Pakistani military and civil officials, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, have said that more than 700 militants have been killed since security forces launched operations against militants in various parts of the restive Malakand area, where the Taliban's influence increased in the wake of a peace deal between them and authorities in Swat.

However, US military and intelligence officials have expressed scepticism about Pakistani claims of high Taliban casualties, according to 'The Long War Journal', a highly regarded website that tracks the activities of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other terror groups.

The Pakistani military's daily reports of hundreds of Taliban fighters killed in the districts of Buner, Dir, Shangla and Swat are "wildly exaggerated", a senior US intelligence official closely watching the operations in Pakistan was quoted as saying.

"Malik's numbers are even more fantastic than those given by the Pakistani military... Clearly (the Pakistani security establishment) want us to believe they're having fantastic success against the Taliban," a US intelligence official said.

A US military intelligence official told the website that the "numbers issued by the (Pakistani) military are wildly exaggerated."

The official noted that Pakistan military is over-relying on air and artillery strikes instead of engaging the Taliban. "This is like a bad movie we've all seen before. Pakistani military levels large areas, claims success, and thinks we'll be conned into believing it if they pump up the Taliban body counts," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

The claims about the Taliban casualties have also been questioned by people fleeing Malakand division due to violence. Residents of Buner and Swat have said the militants are yet to bear the brunt of the military operation.

"We have never seen major casualties on the militants' side so far and only innocent people are targeted," Fazl Karim, a displaced resident of Mingora, the main city in Swat, told Dawn newspaper.

Local residents said militants brandishing heavy weapons could still be seen in Mingora and adjacent areas. Syed Bacha, a rickshaw driver, said militants suffered casualties on the first day of the operation last week when Taliban positions were pounded at emerald mines near Mingora.

Bacha laughed at the government's claim that over 700 militants had been killed. "If they kill 100 militants, I am 100 per cent sure the Taliban will not stay for a single day and will disappear forever," he said. "People are fed up with mock operations and want a final showdown (and) elimination of militants even at the cost of our city."

The picture has been further confused by the fact that virtually no reporters are currently in Swat. Most media organisations have relocated their reporters to Peshawar.

The media has reported the deaths and official funerals of several security personnel killed in the fighting but there has been no video footage whatsoever of Taliban casualties.

The News daily too questioned the Taliban casualty figures provided by government, saying the numbers suggested that almost 10 per cent of the 7,000-odd militants in Swat had been killed and about another 20-30 per cent wounded.

"This is a startlingly high ratio which even the Taliban would find hard to sustain. But how accurate is the figure? There is a widening credibility gap now opening between observers and commentators and the occasional on-the-ground source – and the government," it said in an editorial.

The "uncomfortable reality" is that there is no clear idea of how many Taliban have been killed nor the precise status of the ongoing operation, the paper said, adding the Taliban still hold Mingora as well as Kabal, Matta, Kanju, Venaibaba, Namal, Qambar, Fizagath, Tiligram and Chamtalai.

"The town of Peochar, where they are headquartered, is also under Taliban control. This is not a picture that speaks of retreat and defeat, more of a force holding their defensive positions despite air and ground bombardment," it said.

"If the majority of Taliban fatalities are caused by artillery and airstrikes rather than by infantry – then who goes in and counts the bodies afterwards? And who buries them? Where?" the newspaper asked.