April 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. won't send troops into Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan to hunt for al-Qaeda fugitives and backs efforts by Pakistan's army to find suspected terrorists, the U.S. State Department said.

U.S. military operations in Pakistan's tribal region are an eventuality ``that fortunately we don't have to deal with at the moment,'' State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday, according to a department transcript. Pakistan's military has taken ``concerted and courageous actions'' against the fugitives in recent months, he said.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said this week in Washington the U.S. will deal with terrorists hiding in the region if Pakistan fails to act, Agence France-Presse reported. Pakistan ``knows better what is going on,'' Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP.

Pakistan's army carried out a 12-day operation last month in the South Waziristan region on the border with Afghanistan and killed more than 60 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Many al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters fled into Pakistan to escape the U.S.-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan in 2001.

The Pakistani army said last month's conflict involved a group of about 500 fighters in bases near Wana. Military officials said the group's leaders may have escaped through tunnels found at the bases.

Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives are able to ``base, train and operate'' in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Khalilzad said in Washington, according to AFP.

``We have told the Pakistani leadership that either they must solve this problem or we will have to do it for ourselves,'' AFP cited Khalilzad as saying. ``We cannot allow this problem to fester indefinitely.''

The U.S. is engaged in a ``good dialogue'' with Pakistan on Pakistani efforts to combat terrorists in the country, Ereli said in Washington.

``This is going to be an ongoing effort,'' Ereli said. ``It's not a question of now or never. We're both in this for the long haul. There are deep-rooted and committed terrorists in that part of the world, who need to be acted against. Pakistan is doing that.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 6, 2004 19:36 EDT