Pakistan\'s prime minister promised on Monday to step up efforts to stop al-Qaida militants and their Taliban allies from using Pakistan as a base for attacks in neighboring Afghanistan. Making his first official visit to Afghanistan, Jamali held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and said later that his country was determined to fight extremism. \"We want to ensure, and do our double best, that there is no crisscross from Afghanistan into Pakistan, or from Pakistan into Afghanistan,\" Jamali said at a joint news conference in a courtyard of Karzai\'s palace in the Afghan capital. Afghan officials have urged Pakistan to take a tougher line against al-Qaida and Taliban militants who are launching attacks in Afghan territory and then retreating into Pakistan. At least 36 people, most civilians, have been killed in such cross-border attacks in the last week. Jamali defended Pakistan\'s efforts to date, saying it has deployed 65,000 troops to the border\'s tribal belt and is manning 800 border posts. Islamabad has also rounded up hundreds of al-Qaida suspects in the area, thought to be a possible hiding place of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. However, the success of the crackdown depends largely on the cooperation of the border belt\'s deeply conservative people, many of whom sympathize with the Taliban and have a long tradition of independence from the central government. Last week, Pakistani troops could not capture 15-20 al-Qaida suspects who had taken refuge in South Waziristan, one of several tribal regions along the border. Authorities gave tribal leaders a two-day ultimatum Saturday to hand over three tribesmen suspected of sheltering the foreigners. The deadline expired Monday, but there appeared to be no handover or penalties. Instead, South Waziristan elders announced they were creating a militia to hunt down suspects, said Rahmatullah Khan Wazir, a senior government official in Wana, the region\'s administrative center. \"We have received a positive response from the Wazir tribe,\" said Wazir, himself a member of the tribe. \"They will extend full support to us by arresting any foreign terrorists, if they are hiding there.\" South Waziristan is just across the frontier from Afghanistan\'s Paktika province, where U.S. troops have been hunting Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who launch attacks against them and sneak back into Pakistan. Jamali dismissed speculation that Pakistan was under U.S. pressure to increase border security. \"It\'s our duty. We don\'t need pressure for that work,\" the prime minister said. (AP)