Srinagar: Over 100 militants, including 23 foreigners, have been killed in Kashmir in the first five months of 2019, but what is keeping the security establishment worried is the large number of new recruits, officials said Sunday.
According to them, 50 youngsters have joined various terror outfits since March and the security establishment needs to find a better way to cut off the supply chain and can even consider educating families on radicalisation of the youth.
Among the 101 militants killed till May 31 – 23 are foreigners and 78 are locals. They include top commanders such as Zakir Musa, the chief of so-called Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
However, there has been a sudden surge of militants from Hizbul Mujahideen (HeM) joining Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, especially after the elimination of Musa, May 23, security personnel stated.
Among the terrorists killed, Shopian accounted for a maximum of 25, including 16 local militants. Pulwama was second with the killings of 15 militants, followed by Awantipora with 14 and Kulgam with 12. However, all these highly-volatile areas in south Kashmir continue to contribute more youths to various militant groups.
The officials said infiltration was also picking up and some of the terrorists had managed to sneak in from Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu region as well as from the LoC in Kashmir Valley. This created a more alarming situation for the security forces which were readying themselves for the two-month-long Amarnath Yatra beginning this month-end.
There has been a steady rise in the number of youths taking up arms in the valley since 2014 onwards as compared to 2010-2013 when the figures stood at 54, 23, 21 and six respectively. In 2014, the number shot up to 53 and in 2015, it reached 66 before touching the highest mark of 88 in 2016, data presented in Parliament earlier showed.
Agencies
