76% increase in militant killings than last year

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 24

While Kashmir has witnessed a spurt in militant attacks, the security forces have gunned down 69 militants in the first six months — the highest during such time frame in the past six years. This comes to 76 per cent increase in militant killings than the previous year, indicating a surge in militant numbers and at the same time it also signifies an increase in proactive anti-insurgency operations by the security grid across the Kashmir valley.

Most of the militants have been killed along the Line of Control and in the hinterland while Srinagar and the other towns have also witnessed the violence. The security forces casualty has also increased in these past six years, except in 2013. Till June, 28 security men were killed, an increase by 40 per cent than the corresponding period in the previous year. In 2013, the casualty figure of the forces was 29.

In the first six months in 2013, the security forces had lost 29 of its men in various gunfights. In June 2013, Lashkar-e-Toiba militants had ambushed an Army convoy on the Srinagar outskirts, killing eight soldiers.

According to the figures for the first six months, 12 security men were killed in 2011, three in 2012, 16 in 2014 and 20 in 2015. June has been most violent in J&K this year as 15 security men and 24 militants were killed. There were major ambushes on the security forces in south Kashmir which also included a broad daylight fidayeen attack on a CRPF convoy that left eight personnel dead and 22 others wounded. This year out of 69 militants killed, 49 were foreign nationals and the rest were locals. Most of the foreign militants killed were associated with the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Kashmir’s indigenous militant group Hizbul Mujahideen has also suffered many casualties this year. “The high number of militant casualties is because there have been many cases of successful infiltration,” said a police officer.

During this year three Pakistani militants were arrested during the first six months. Those arrested included two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants Mohammad Sidiq of Sialkot and Abdul Rehman of Pollas Poonch from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Lashkar’s Hanzullah of Abu Ukasha from Pakistan.