Domination by local militants a worry for security agencies

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 15

While the death of Hizbul Mujahideen Burhan Wani has given a fillip to militancy, the home-grown cadre is now dominating the militant landscape in the Valley. 

Of the nearly 225 listed militants in Kashmir, over 130 are locals, the highest in recent years.

Despite 100 militants from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) infiltrating into Kashmir last year, security agencies call the domination by local militants a “worrying” trend. 

While the number of militants operating in Kashmir is pegged around 250 by the security and intelligence agencies, the J&K Police have listed and categorised nearly 225 militants, top sources said.

Of the listed militants, over 130 are locals and around 90 are foreigners — all of them from Pakistan and PoK. 

Nearly 90 recruits from various parts of the Valley, especially from areas in south, joined militant ranks last year, helping the local militants to dominate. 

The forces were, however, able to neutralise many local militants, who had joined militancy last year.

The domination of local militants has increased the “worries” of the security agencies which fear a spate in the violence this year. 

Last year was the worst year for security forces as they recorded the highest number of casualties after 2007. As many as 88 security personnel lost their lives in the state in 2016.

“The number of local militants has been rising since the last two or three year. The foreign militants were in a majority for over a decade before they were outnumbered by the locals in 2014. Though the foreign militants have been at the forefront and involved in many deadly attacks on forces, the local element is a concern for the forces. They know the topography and also have a large overground network which helps them in their respective areas,” a police officer said. 

“The local militants gain sympathy if they are killed or arrested and we have been seeing large funerals of the local militants,” he added.

Worried over the local recruitment, Director General of Police SP Vaid has extended an olive branch to the youth who joined militancy.

“We request the parents and relatives to bring back their children who have been misled to join militancy. You cannot achieve anything from violence. I appeal to parents to bring back their misguided children into the mainstream,” Vaid told reporters in south Kashmir on Saturday.

At least 59 locals joined militancy after the Burhan Wani’s killing in July last year that sparked a five-month-long unrest in the region. 

The police figures show that the Lashkar-e-Toiba continues to be a dormant group in the region with half of the militant cadre, which also includes local militants, belonging to them. The indigenous militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, which does not have any non-local militant in its ranks, has a strength of 90.

“There are other groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al-Badr which also have a small cadre in Kashmir,” the figures say.