Omar Abdullah questions Army officials boasting about number of militants killed in J&K

Mumbai: Former Jammu & Kashmir, chief minister, Omar Abdullah speaks during the United Nations young change makers conclave in Mumbai on Saturday, Oct 27, 2018 (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)(PTI10_27_2018_000177B)

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday questioned Army officials boasting about the number of militants killed in the state last year, saying it would have been a "great year" if no youth had joined militancy.

"I beg to differ, a great year would be one in which no young man would join militancy, no terrorists would be killed & no security personnel would lose their lives in encounters. The compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn't be treated as a cause for celebration," Omar wrote on Twitter.

I beg to differ, a great year would be one in which no young man would join militancy, no terrorists would be killed & no security personnel would lose their lives in encounters. The compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn’t be treated as a cause for celebration. https://t.co/PPNGWmrCBy

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) January 17, 2019

He was responding to the remarks of Northern Army Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh in which he reportedly said that 2018 has been a great year for the security forces as more than 250 terrorists were killed, 54 were caught alive and four surrendered to the forces.