Active militants in Kashmir below 200, says IGP Kashmir

Anantnag: Six militants including two of them Pakistanis and an army soldier were killed in two separate gunfights in south Kashmir.
The slain militants affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad were killed in Anantnag and Kulgam districts. Two army soldiers and a policeman were also injured in one of the gunfights.
Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar termed the killings as a major success against militancy.
“This Jaish module was involved in Zewan attack, wherein 3 policemen were killed and 11 others were injured earlier this month,” a police spokesperson quoted Kumar as saying.
He has also maintained that the number of active militants in Kashmir has gone down below 200 for the first time and that there was very scarce support for militants in Kashmir as of now.
“It is for the first time in last 30 years that the number of active militants has gone down below 200. The number of local militants is only 86,” Kumar said while interacting with the media.
The two gunfights in Dooru village of Anantnag district and Mirhama village of Kulgam district in South Kashmir broke out on Wednesday night.
The first gunfight erupted in Dooru area, where militants opened indiscriminate fire on forces who were laying down cordon in the area, acting on specific inputs regarding the presence of militants.
“Three army men and a policeman were injured as militants fired from a cowshed. One of the injured army men later succumbed to his injuries, while the other three are undergoing treatment and are stable,” a senior police official from Anantnag said.
He said that the three militants were killed in the retaliatory fire and the bodies have been retrieved along with arms and ammunition. The slain have been identified as Nisar Ahmad Khanday, Peer Altaf Hussain alias Mufti Altaf, and the third one a Pakistani national.
“The bodies have been sent to PCR Srinagar from where they will be sent to North Kashmir for burial,” the police official said. Authorities in Kashmir have stopped handing over bodies of militants to their families, since April 2020, citing Covid protocol.
Soon after the Dooru gunfight ensued, another gunfight was reported from Mirhama village of Kulgam district where three Jaish militants were killed in a brief gunfight with government forces, the police said.
“There were specific inputs regarding their presence and the militants were given a chance to surrender after they were surrounded,” a police official from Kulgam said. He said that the militants opened fire, instead, which was retaliated and all three militants were killed in a brief gunfight.
The slain militants have been identified as Uzair Ahmad of Kulgam, Muhammad Shafi Dar of Tral, and a Pakistani national by the name of Shahid. “An M4 rifle and two AK-47 rifles were recovered from their possession,” the police official said.
Bodies of these three militants have also been sent to Srinagar and will later be buried in north Kashmir.
Kumar, meanwhile, has maintained that 11 militants have been killed in the past five days in Kashmir valley.

Suhail A Shah