Al-Qaeda is under more pressure in Pakistan now than at any time since the September 11, 2001 attacks, US President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

"Their leaders and operatives are being removed from the battlefield. Their safe-havens are shrinking," Obama said, according to prepared remarks released by the White House.

"And we have sent a message from the Afghan border to the Arabian Peninsula to all parts of the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver and we will defeat you."