“Nobody suffered more from terrorist attacks than the people of Pakistan,” said a US State Department spokesman. -File Photo

WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan have a shared struggle against terrorism and nobody has suffered more from terrorist attacks than the Pakistani people, the State Department said.

A State Department spokesman also reiterated Washington's resolve to continue its ongoing campaign to eliminate al Qaeda elements.

“We view this as a shared struggle (against violent extremism). We obviously are very much cognizant of the fact that extremism and terrorism remains a threat to Pakistan's stability, to its citizens”, State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said.

“Nobody suffered more from these kinds of terrorist attacks than the people of Pakistan”, he acknowledged.

The State Department comments came amid unrelenting demands on Pakistan to do more, even as things go from bad to worse in neighboring Afghanistan.

Until last year, Pakistanis faced almost daily retaliatory attacks from terrorists in the wake of counterterrorism operations.

Pakistani officials say the country has lost more than 35,000 civilians and four thousand of its soldiers in the fight against terrorism.

“We're going to continue to go after these al Qaida elements and disrupt, dismantle, and destroy them”, Toner said in answer to another question.

The spokesman was also asked a series of questions about the US stance on Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, who worked for CIA in hunt of Osama bin Laden, but has been sentenced to 33 years imprisonment for his ties to a terrorist organization.

“No is the short answer; we haven't had contact with him”, Toner replied when asked if the US has had some contact with the jailed doctor.

“We have actually gotten some clarity that the charges against him are not related to the bin Laden case apparently. We did get a response from the Pakistani Government.

“This, however, doesn't change our view that the prosecution and conviction of Dr. Afridi sends the wrong message about the importance of our shared interest in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers, bin Laden. So we would just continue to urge the Pakistani Government to consider his appeal”, he responded to a question.

Questioned if the United States is going to be attempting to make regular or any kind of contact with Dr Afridi directly, the spokesman answered:

“I know that we've expressed our concern. I don't know that we're able to get access to him, frankly. I mean, this is not an American citizen, so it's not that we can - we don't have”.

The spokesman was put in a defensive position as journalists sought reasons for the Obama administration's stand on the issue, despite the disclosure that Dr Afridi was sentenced following his conviction in a tribal court on charges of his past links with a militant organization.