15 foreign militants killed this year in the Valley: J&K Police
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New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Police reported that 62 militants had been killed in the Valley since the beginning of the year, according to Indian Express.
In what could be called a spike in militancy, 37 of them were killed in the first four month of 2021.
Authorities reportedly identified 15 of the 62 as "foreign militants", meaning they were hailing from Pakistan.
The total number of foreign militants killed in the entire year was put at 20.
However, no foreign militant was killed in the first four months of 2021.
The total number of militants gunned down in Kashmir in 2021 was 168.
The numbers indicate 'greater push' from across the border to create trouble in the valley, the report says.
Vijay Kumar, IG Kashmir, told Indian Express that survival rate of terrorists was drastically reducing. He attributed this to better human intelligence and technical intelligence and focused operations.
32 of the 62 killed were taken out within just three months of their joining militancy, according to him.
A senior official linked lower militant activity this time last year to ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan, according to the official, didn't not want to make headlines for wrong reason as it was facing heat from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
As a result, it had an impact on infiltration. As the FATF pressure on Pakistan dropped by mid-2021, trouble in the valley went up again.
This was particularly so following the developments in Afghanistan. "They have been pushing terrorists in the Valley since mid-2021" Indian Express quoted the official as saying.
J&K Police officer pointed at Pakistan's changed tactics in the valley: Pakistan was sending in small arms smuggling through drones. Using overground workers to launch attacks on soft targets, it keeps the " terror pot' boiling without creating headlines. According to the official it was hard to catch these people who were not full-time militants.
These militants had regular jobs and they would return weapons to their handler after completing a task, according to the official.