Only 78 active militants in Valley,says report

A report compiled by the Jamp;K Police has found that only 78 militants are active in the Valley,the lowest ever since militancy erupted in the state in 1990

A report compiled by the Jamp;K Police has found that only 78 militants are active in the Valley,the lowest ever since militancy erupted in the state in 1990. A copy of the report is with The Indian Express and it says that 49 militants are based in the five districts of north Kashmir. The highest number,25 of them,are in Handwara,of which 22 are foreign militants.

The police have also stressed the need to cultivate human intelligence. Since the technical intelligence is now drying up,there is a need to create human sources to get effective intelligence, the report stated.

According to the report,in the frontier district of Kupwara eight militants,all of them foreigners,have been identified. No militant has been killed in the district in the past two years. In Sopore,seven of them,including a foreigner,are operating. However,the foreign militant,Fahadullah,an LeT commander,was arrested last week. While there are five militants in Baramulla,four are operating from Bandipore,the report states.

The report puts the number of militants in south Kashmir as 25,with only one,Mubarak Ahmad Wani,a released militant who has rejoined the ranks,in Anantnag. In Shopian,it is five,six in Awantipora and eight in Pulwama.

The lowest number is in central Kashmir with only three militants,including two foreigners,in Srinagar. The report says that these militants have been lying low since December 2012 and that there are no inputs about their movements. A lone militant of Hizbul Mujahideen,identified as Ilyas,operates out of Budgam district.

The report has sought a system to monitor the activities of the released militants. We need to undertake the audit of the sources as most of the sources are released militants who are equally comfortable with militants,army and the police. They have the tendency to incline towards where they will find more gains and even can get recycled in militancy, the report says.