Anantnag: With the killing of two more militants in Thursday’s Pulwama gunfight, the number of militants killed this year has reached 62, with the majority of them slain in the month of April.
Two Al-Badr militants were killed and an army man was injured in an overnight gunfight in Pulwama district. Following the conclusion of the gunfight, the police said that 62 militants have now been killed this year.
“The number of militants killed, in different gunfights, in the first three months of the year was 39,” a senior police official said, adding that April has been particularly bloody than the first three months of the year.
In April, in more than ten gunfights, 23 militants were killed, he said. “Four personnel of security forces were also killed this month,” the official said.
Local militants slain this year have outnumbered foreign militants. Out of the 62 slain, 47 have been locals and only 15 have been Pakistani nationals. “32 out of the slain locals have been eliminated within 3 months of their joining the ranks,” Kashmir Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said.
He said that “success” has been achieved through enhanced human intelligence, technical intelligence, and focused operations. “That is the reason the survival rate of militants is diminishing,” Kumar said.
Outfit-wise, Lashkar-e-Toiba has suffered most of the losses in gunfights this year, with 39 of the militants slain this year belonging to it.
“Fifteen of the slain militants were affiliated with Jaish-e-Muhammad, six to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, and two to Al-Badr,” the police official said.
The two militants associated with Al-Badr were killed in the latest gunfight at Pulwama.
The police have said that the number of active militants is at an all-time low in Kashmir. “And the anti-militancy operations will continue relentlessly,” the official said, adding, “The goal is to eradicate militancy.”

Suhail A Shah