Washington: The al-Qaeda and Taliban elements which have moved beyond Pakistan's tribal areas are threatening the country's survival, a top US intelligence official has said in an unusually strong warning, asserting that only the army had the "strength" to check the menace.

"I think the most significant thing in the recent situation is the threat has moved into Pakistan proper to threaten the very existence of the(state) what's happened is Pakistan has now recognised that this is an existential threat to their very survival," Director of National Intelligence Admiral Michael McConnell said in a testimony before the Senate Committee on Intelligence on Annual Threat Assessment.

He said the Pakistani leadership is taking steps to be more aggressive in getting control of the situation, with regard to not only Al Qaida, but also the militants in the FATA area.

His comments came after senior law makers, cutting across party lines, expressed serious concern at the terror threat coming out of Pakistan especially in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of the north.

"The militancy emanating from the tribal areas has grown so strong that it has spread to the settled areas of Pakistan, in the North-West Frontier province, but also reaching into the heart of Pakistan's cities, including Islamabad. The most egregious example of this, of course, is Benazir Bhutto," remarked Senior Republican Senator Orin Hatch.

"At what point do you believe it would be better to pronounce the current Pakistani government a complete failure in advancing security for us or even their own people? And what Pakistani institutions could successfully stand against these threats?" he asked McConnell.

Source : PTI