"The Pakistani military has stepped up operations" against the militants but more action was needed, Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups based near the Afghan border represent "an ever more serious threat to Pakistan's very existence," he said.

The chief of US Central Command said "the situation in Pakistan is closely linked to that of Afghanistan" and praised a new strategy unveiled last week by President Barack Obama for the Afghan war as a "comprehensive" approach.

Describing the challenges of the US mission in Afghanistan, Petraeus said there would be no quick victory and that it would require "a sustained substantial commitment" after more than seven years of war.

His comments came amid rising violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud on Tuesday claiming responsibility for a deadly assault on a police academy near Lahore.

Mehsud said the police academy assault was in retaliation for missile attacks against fellow militants and threatened to attack the US capital.

Asked about the threat, Petraeus said "you have to take it seriously" and said intelligence analysts were looking at the Taliban's capabilities to carry out such a threat.

Another suspected US drone strike was reported on Wednesday in Pakistan, with two missiles fired at an alleged Taliban and Al-Qaeda training center in the country's northwest.

The missile strikes, which Washington does not openly confirm, have fueled hostility against the United States and the government in Islamabad.

Senators at the hearing voiced concern over links between elements of Pakistan's intelligence service and the Taliban, which US officials have publicly acknowledged over the past week.

Asked if Pakistan had made progress in severing ties between its spy agency and Islamist extremists, the undersecretary of defense, Michele Flournoy, said: "I don't see adequate progress at this point," Flournoy said.

But she said the administration's new strategy was designed to help Pakistan in that effort.

Asked about reports that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was passing information about possible US planned attacks against insurgents, Petraeus said the United States would have to move cautiously when cooperating with Islamabad's spy service.

Citing "troubling accusations" about the ISI, Petraeus said contacts with ISI "had to be done very carefully."

"It is difficult in some cases to sort out what is an intelligence agency contact that is trying to develop a source, or on the other hand what is an intelligence agency contact that is warning of an impending operation," the general said.

A crucial part of the new US strategy was to try to reduce tensions between Pakistan and India, allowing Islamabad to shift its attention and resources to confronting the Islamist insurgents, Flournoy said.

"It's important to understand the impact of India on the Pakistan psyche," said Admiral Eric Olson, head of US special operations command, saying the perceived threat from India had shaped the country's military.

But senators expressed skepticism about Pakistan's readiness to tackle the insurgents, with Democrat Jim Webb saying Islamabad had appeared to use a "soft hand" so far against the militants.

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