Security forces including Indian Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir police have so far eliminated 200 terrorists in the valley.
According to a report published in India Today, on Tuesday security forces killed two terrorists in north Kashmir’s Kupwara area. With this, the toll has gone up to 200 this year. The terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir include both Pakistani and locals.
While most of the slain terrorists belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the highest number were gunned down in south Kashmir. South Kashmir witnessed the killings of 109 terrorists while in north Kashmir it was 45.
“Among the major operations was the killing of Abu Mateen and Abu Hamaas in March 2018, which was followed by that of Sameer Ahmad Bhat alias Sameer Tiger in Shopian on April 1,” India Today added.
“Over the next few months, top militant commanders like Saddam Paddar, Abu Qasim and Abu Maviya were killed in May, June and July respectively. Last month witnessed the deaths of 27 militants, which included Mannan Wani, Mehrajudin Bangroo and Sabzar Ahmad Sofi. In addition, 50 terrorists were apprehended while five terrorists surrendered before the forces,” it noted.
The forces adopted several measures such as tighter security arrangements for the highly sensitive Amarnath Yatra, a cessation in the operations during the Holy month of Ramadan. The Army had also appealed to the local terrorists and their families to ask them to give up guns and return to the mainstream.
Last year the figure was 200 as on November 30. However, a total of 206 terrorists were killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir and 75 others were persuaded to shun violence in 2017. In 2016, 165 terrorists were killed by the security forces along the Line of Control (LoC) and in the hinterland. In 2010, 270 terrorists were killed. However, the number dropped to around 100 per year by the end of 2015.
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