US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton started a three-day visit of Pakistan Wednesday, praising the country's offensive against Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents in the South Waziristan tribal district near the Afghan border. "We admire what the Pakistani military is doing in taking on this fight," Clinton said. "We think it's in the interest of Pakistan to do it."

The United States has long pressed Pakistan for an all-out offensive against Taliban militants launching cross-border attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan.

More than 30,000 Pakistani foot soldiers are facing intense resistance from well-trained and -equipped guerrilla fighters who take advantage of the difficult terrain in South Waziristan to carry out surprise raids on the soldiers.

Clinton told reporters travelling with her from Washington that the Waziristan operation was also in the United States' "national security interest."

The Waziristan region has turned into one of the major hubs of international terrorism with hundreds of al-Qaeda militants running training camps and planning attacks abroad.

To avert the assault on their heartland, the Taliban have intensified their attacks on civilian and government targets in Pakistan in recent weeks. More than 200 people, many of them security personnel, have died in suicide bombings and militant raids.

The top US diplomat said her country recognized the high price Pakistanis were paying in the fight against terrorism.

"The civilian casualties, the military and police casualties obviously are very worrisome and tragic," Clinton said, according to remarks made available on the US State Department's website.

"I think too often people outside of Pakistan don't know or don't acknowledge how hard this battle is," the former first lady added in a briefing while travelling to Pakistan.

Clinton promised a fresh start in relations with Pakistan, where anti-Americanism has risen sharply in recent years.

"We are turning the page," she said, adding her country intended to broaden relations, which in the past several years followed "primarily a security/anti-terrorist agenda."

Security "remains a very high priority," she said, but it is imperative "to expand how we support the civilian government, how we deepen the military-to-military and intelligence-to-intelligence relationship."

During her visit, Clinton was scheduled to hold talks with Pakistani political and military leaders as well as elders from the troubled north-western region, business leaders and students. She was also scheduled to visit cultural sites.

It was expected that several agreements concerning US investment, particularly in the energy sector, would be signed during her visit.

Officials from the two countries last week reviewed a range of options to lessen Pakistan's energy crisis and create the right climate to attract private capital investment in Pakistan.