The top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, held talks with Pakistani leaders on Wednesday aiming to patch up ties strained by a flurry of US strikes against militants in Pakistan.

Mullen said this month he was not convinced Western forces were winning in Afghanistan and he was looking at a new, more comprehensive strategy that would cover both sides of the border, including Pakistan’s tribal areas. US officials say Taliban and al Qaeda-linked fighters use ethnic Pashtun tribal regions on the Pakistani side of the border as a springboard for attacks into Afghanistan.

A new government in nuclear-armed Pakistan has committed itself to the US-led campaign against Islamist militancy even though support for the United States is deeply unpopular.

But Islamabad objects to cross-border strikes and protested against a bloody helicopter-borne ground assault by US commandos in South Waziristan this month. There have been five US missile strikes this month, killing militants and civilians.

Dealers said the Pakistani rupee weakened to a record low of 77.20/30 to the dollar on Wednesday partly because of tension with the United States, a major source of financial help for Pakistan as it struggles with economic problems.

A US embassy spokesman said Mullen wanted to improve coordination and cooperation with the Pakistani military. Admiral Mullen has worked to forge a closer relationship and he wants to continue the relationship building, said the spokesman, Lou Fintor.

Pakistan’s army commander, General Ashfaq Kayani, said last week Pakistan’s territory would be defended at all cost and a military spokesman said on Tuesday aggression across the border would be confronted.