Talks in Berlin

Pakistani Defense Minister, Chaudry Ahmad Mukhtar, in talks with his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung, asked for outside help to meet the challenges the Pakistani army faces in its domestic struggle against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

"We are fighting a very difficult war. It's a guerilla war we are fighting in Pakistan," Mukhtar said at a joint press conference at the German Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

Pakistan alone did not have the capacity to win the war in his country's rugged northwestern region, Mukhtar said, calling for international support in the conflict.

At the same time, the Pakistani defense minister denied that foreign troops were the answer.

"Pakistan is a sovereign country and I say that we can defend ourselves," Mukhtar said.

International concern over spreading Islamist insurgency

He said that military operations against Taliban insurgents in the northwest would last several more weeks.

Pakistani troops launched an offensive in the Swat Valley and neighboring districts where Taliban militants had been allowed by the government to establish Islamic law. The Taliban have since been trying to expand that beachhead to other areas.

The meeting in Berlin came just hours ahead of talks scheduled in Washington between President Barack Obama, and the presidents of Pakistan and Aghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai.

Mukhtar also stressed to his German counterpart that "the stability of Afghanistan is the stability of Pakistan."

Defense Minister Jung said it was crucial to apply what he called "a comprehensive approach" to Pakistan, similar to that taken in Afghanistan.

Jung said Germany had committed 155 million dollars to civilian reconstruction in refugee areas of Pakistan.