New year starts with intensified anti-militancy operations in Kashmir; eight militants killed in five days

Police and security forces have acknowledged the presence of “hybrid' or “part-time” militants in Kashmir. (Photo by Irfan Amin Malik)

The new year began with intensified anti-militancy operations in Kashmir, with 8 militants killed in the first five days in five separate gunfights.

In a year-end press conference, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, had claimed that for the first time during the past three decades the number of active militants in the valley has fallen under 100, with 86 local militants still active in the region.

According to the IGP, this is the first time in history that the number of local militants is below 100.

On January 1, security forces gunned down a non-local militant in the Keran sector of Kupwara district. The police identified the slain militant as Muhammad Shabir Malik, a Pakistani national.

Figures available with Moneycontrol reveal that five gunfights have taken place in Kashmir in the first five days of the new year. Of the five gunfights, Srinagar district saw two gunfights in a span of one hour, north Kashmir’s Kupwara district recorded one gunfight and Kulgam and Pulwama districts in southern Kashmir reported two separate gunfights.

The figures also reveal that compared to the previous year, when 10 militants were killed in the whole of January, this year 8 militants have been killed within the first five days of the month.

Twenty-two militants were killed in January 2020, 19 in January 2019 and 10 in 2018.

Among the 8 militants killed in Kashmir so far this year, five were identified as locals and three as Pakistani nationals.

Top LeT commander killed

On January 3, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, Saleem Parray of Hajin Bandipora in north Kashmir, who had been active since 2016, was killed in a quick joint operation by J&K Police, Army and the CRPF near Srinagar's Shalimar locality, along the city's famed Mughal Gardens.

According to police, 24-year-old Parray was allegedly involved in the killings of civilians and security forces in parts of Kashmir. “Security forces have achieved a major success by eliminating Parray who was involved in several civilian killings,” said IGP Kumar.

With the killing of Parray, his native Hajin hamlet of Bandipora, once considered a hotbed of militants, has been declared militancy free.

“The killing of Parray has caused a major blow to militants in Kashmir as he managed to survive for nearly five years at a time when the average age of militants in Kashmir is counted in months,” said a police officer.

Parray was also on the list of ten wanted militants of Kashmir released by the J&K police in August 2021.

Last year, 190 militants, mostly locals, were killed in J&K. About 15 percent of militants killed in the region were non-locals, while 85 percent were locals.

Challenges dealing with militancy

At a time when operations have been intensified to eliminate militancy from the region, recruitment is going to be a major challenge for the security forces.

Every year, despite nearly 200 militants being killed and a hundred others being arrested in J&K, militant recruitment continues to take place.

According to police, 128 people joined militancy in 2021 and 167 in 2020, the second-highest in a decade. A year earlier, 127 had joined, while 191 joined militancy in 2018, 65 more than in 2017.

For the security forces, militant recruitment still remains a major challenge despite the fact that no militant funerals -- believed to be a key driver behind recruitment -- have taken place since 2020.

Police sources said that the militancy in the valley is driven by young local recruits, mostly belonging to The Resistance Front (TRF), Al-Badr, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and LeT.

Police and security forces have also acknowledged the presence of “hybrid' or “part-time” militants as a new challenge in dealing with militancy.

A senior CRPF officer posted in Kashmir told Moneycontrol that on a daily basis 50-60 cordon-and-search operations are carried out in Kashmir to trace militants. “Whenever the militants come out from their hiding spaces and target security forces their presence gets detected and they are ultimately killed.”

For example, he said, in December last year, militants intensified attacks on security forces due to which they were exposed and killed.

With regard to the claim by the police that less than 100 militants are active in Kashmir, the officer said that figures can never be exact and keep on fluctuating due to various factors.