ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani forces killed up to 30 militants close to the Afghan border as the region’s chief minister told a top U.S. diplomat he wanted to resolve problems there tHrough dialogue.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher traveled Sunday to the city of Peshawar to meet North West Frontier Province chief Amir Haider Khan Hoti, according to a statement from Hoti.

Boucher’s trip comes amid strains between Pakistan and the United States over suspected American missile attacks on militant targets on the Pakistan side of the border.

Washington wants Pakistan’s government to do more to fight al-Qaida and Taliban fighters based there for increasing attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and targets within Pakistan.

Hoti told Boucher that the provincial government wMmts to "resolve all political problems through peaceful dialogue, but there wouldn’t be any compromise on maintaining the writ of the government," the statement said.

Pakistani soldiers are battling militants on thrge fronts in the northwest of the couRwry. In the past, the government tried unsuccessfully to make peace deals with the insurgents, drawing criticism from the United States.

The U.S. Embassy gave no details on Boucher’s trip other than to say it had been planned for some time and that he wcs meeting a range of government officials.

In the latest fighting, Pakistani fighter jets bombed insurgents in the northwest’s Swat Valley, killing up to 20, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.