128 militants killed in five months

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 9

Security forces have gone the whole hog against the militants in the last five months. They have neutralised 128 militants, including some of the most-wanted commanders.

During this period (since July 1 to November 30), forces have lost 43 men in the course of duty bringing the kill ratio to 3:1. The police have faced the maximum brunt followed by the Army. Policemen have been largely targeted by militants either at their homes or off duty, especially in the volatile area of south Kashmir.

The Governor’s rule was imposed in J&K on June 20, a day after the BJP pulled out from the state coalition headed by Mehbooba Mufti. Two months after the Governor’s rule was imposed, the J&K Government suddenly shifted Shesh Paul Vaid as the police chief and replaced him with Dilbag Singh.

According to figures, security forces killed 11 militants in July, 25 in August, 29 in September, 26 in October and 37 in November 37. In all, 227 militants have been killed this year, which is highest since 2010.

J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh who took over on September 7 credited the successful anti-militancy operations to “excellent synergy between the forces and agencies”.

“Apart from the synergy, the formations on ground are working hard. There is also a lot of public cooperation as well,” the DGP told The Tribune. “Militant atrocities on civilians have increased and people are fed up of them. Moreover, the militants are not being given shelter by people. They keep on wandering in the forests and residential areas.”

Most of the operations in the past few months that led to the killing of militants, including top commanders, were carried out during night hours and early morning to avoid civilian causalities in clashes, which had been badly hampering the operations since 2017.

Moreover, since July, there has been a slight decline in civilian killings near the encounter sites. While at least five civilians were killed in clashes near the encounter sites, seven also died in a blast at a gunfight site in south Kashmir’s Kulgam.

“The way the anti-militancy operations are being planned and executed, there are a fewer chances of clashes,” a security official said. “Except Kulgam, where seven civilians died in October, most of the anti-militancy operations have been mostly clean.”

Since July, 16 civilians, including mainstream political workers and separatists, have also been killed by suspected militants.

The major worry for the security grid continues to be the local recruitment. During the last five months, more than 70 youth are believed to have joined militant ranks in Kashmir. According to officials, there was a slight decline in militant recruitment only in October, when less than 10 youth joined militant ranks.

“In the past five months, over 70 youth have joined militant ranks,” an officer said, preferring anonymity.

For forces, August was a deadly month as they lost 17 of its men in either militant attacks or counter-infiltration operations. This year, the forces also halted the anti-militancy operations in the month of Ramazan, which began on May 17.

Casualty count

Militants killed this year 227

Militants killed since July 128

Security forces killed this year 81

Security forces killed since July 43

Civilians killed this year 98

Civilians killed in law and order 58