LONDON, July 2 Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says that public opinion in Pakistan turned decisively against extremists over the past few months, paving the way for the successes of the military operation.

“Today, public opinion has converted to such an extent that the local tribes have set up lashkars [militias] to support army operations,” Mr Qureshi told the Guardian in an interview.

He said Pakistan had “turned the tide” in its battle with Islamist militants and Al Qaeda was “on the run”.

The newspaper said Mr Qureshi's assertion was given weight by a recent opinion poll showing that 80 per cent of Pakistanis believed the Taliban and other Islamist extremists posed a “critical threat” to the country. A previous poll in September 2007 found that only 34 per cent viewed the Taliban as a threat.

Mr Qureshi said 95 per cent of the Swat and Malakand areas, which were seized by extremists, had been cleared since a government offensive began in May. He said the army was pressing deep into South Waziristan, striking at the base of one of the most powerful Pakistani warlords, Baitullah Mehsud.

He said he was not surprised by the announcement of the scrapping of truce by the Taliban in North Waziristan. “As we've put on the pressure, they have realigned,” he said. “We are taking them all on. We are not picking between a bad and a good terrorist. A terrorist is a terrorist.

“The army has eliminated a lot of the second and third-tier leadership, and that has hit their effectiveness and their capacity to regroup and counter-attack is diminishing, even if it is gradually.”

Mr Qureshi said government offensives were robbing the Al Qaeda leadership of support. “For the first time they are on the run,” the foreign minister said. “We know that because we pick up on their chatter.”

He said the army offensive had succeeded in the tribal areas where many had failed under the rule of General Pervez Musharraf because it had popular support under a democratically elected government.

“I think we've turned the tide and democracy has played a significant role,” Mr Qureshi said.