© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The killing of two Army officers and a Jammu and Kashmir police officer during a gunbattle in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district Wednesday has returned the spotlight to south Kashmir after a temporary lull.
In recent months, the areas south of the Pir Panjal range, such as Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu, have been the focus of counter-terror operations given that these have been the targets of more high-visibility terror attacks in comparison to the strikes in the Valley.
The casualties in Wednesday’s attack, top officials pointed out, was because of the retaliation by terrorists trapped in the area – unlike the strikes to the south of Pir Panjal which have been targeted attacks.
Defence officials told The Indian Express that while the number of terrorists had gone down over a period of time in the Kashmir region, operations by security forces had been continuing.
Data available until June showed that the local recruitment of terrorists in J&K had been reducing since 2020: 191 in 2020, 141 in 2021, 121 in 2022 and 7 so far this year. Of the total terrorists killed in the UT since 2020, 549 were locals while 86 were of foreign origin.
As many as 133 local recruits either surrendered or were arrested during this period, while the number stood at 17 for foreign terrorists in the corresponding period.
Data showed that 36 local terrorists and 71 foreign terrorists were present in the Valley in May 2023, and the numbers in the corresponding period in Jammu region stood at 13 local terrorists and two foreign terrorists.
Between January 2021 and May 30 this year, 24 security personnel and 75 civilians were killed on either side of the Pir Panjal range.
Senior officials said Anantnag is located between the Pir Panjal range and Srinagar with access towards Doda as well, making it an important destination for terrorists.
“The initial success of terrorism here converted it into a hub and despite the overall reduction of terrorists across the Valley, certain areas in south Kashmir are still of concern,” an official said.
“Connectivity to other areas across the Pir Panjal range, including Reasi and Kulgam, is easier from Anantnag. This was why infiltrating terrorists could reach here and spread themselves across the Valley,” the official said.
Troops in J&K have been deployed in the counter-terrorism and counter-infiltration grids. The Army largely mans the LoC for counter-infiltration and the Rashtriya Rifles has been deployed in the counter-terrorism grid along with few of the regular reserve formations.
The RR’s Victor Force and Kilo Force are under the Srinagar-based 15 Corps which covers Kashmir while the Romeo Force and Delta Force are part of the Nagrota-based 16 Corps. The RR’s Uniform Force has been shifted from 16 Corps to the 14 Corps area along the LAC after the military standoff with China began in 2020.
