Locals help Army steal a march in Kashmir

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: Thanks to information provided by the local population and careful planning and execution of operations, the Army has...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: Thanks to information provided by the local population and careful planning and execution of operations, the Army has registered a significant increase in the number of militants killed and apprehended in Jammu and Kashmir this winter.

During January-February, the Army killed 124 Pakistan-trained militants while 57 were arrested by the security forces.

This has taken the tally for the winter months to 316, according to sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD). During the corresponding period last year, 70 militants were killed in the Valley. The total number of militants killed during the winter season last year was 165, according to the sources.Among those killed are area, district and tehsil commanders’ of militant organisations such as the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Ansar and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Many of them were reportedly masterminding the operations of foreign mercenaries in the state.MoD sources attributed the improvement in results tohigh-quality Intelligence coupled with careful planning and execution of operations.

“What is of greater importance is that we are achieving a far higher success rate in the areas south of Pir Panjal. Demographically, there are hardly any Kashmiris in this area, so obviously the locals do not want to let insurgency strike roots here and are therefore coming forward to give us information,” an MoD official said.