Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf strictly rejects Washington's claim that the country's nuclear armaments could come under militant control some time soon.

In a Friday interview with the National Public Radio, Musharraf said that, regarding nuclear security, the Pakistani state and military had covered all the bases by standing a command authority guard over the arsenal.

The nuclear weapons were also guarded by 18 thousand military servicemen, he noted.

"Politically, Pakistan cannot, in the foreseeable future, be ruled by an extremist group that has sympathy with the terrorists," he said.

Based on reports that alleged Pakistani militants had launched an attack on the facilities, Washington has been making out a case for enhanced security precautions around the arsenal.

US officials have also been emphasizing on an alleged need for the US military presence in Pakistan, citing that the armaments could fall into the 'wrong hands'.

The 66-year-old former president said the increasing US missile attacks on Pakistan's border regions "had tremendous negative fallout on the public of Pakistan, because it is considered a violation of our sovereignty."

The current US administration has almost doubled the attacks on the regions it deems as hideouts for militants, who have reportedly fled Afghanistan. Only one-sixth of such raids have so far actually hit pro-Taliban hideouts, according to Pakistani media, prompting Islamabad to step up its objection to the US air strikes.

Musharraf, however, strongly supported the idea of an increased US presence in Afghanistan.

At a time when Afghanistan is witnessing the highest level of violence despite the presence of over 100,000 US and NATO troops, Washington is pressed to either increase the number of the soldiers on the ground or approve of a strategy of intelligence operations, which are accompanied by 'surgical' missile strikes.

Musharraf endorsed both methods saying the two had to go hand in hand.

HN/MMN