60 foreign terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir, most from LeT

At least 60 foreign terrorists are currently active in the Jammu and Kashmir region with the majority (35) belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). As many as 17 local terrorists are also said to be actively involved in insurgent activities in the region.

According to sources, as far as foreign terrorists are concerned, apart from LeT, foreign-based extremists from Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) are also active in the region as on date. Of them, 21 belong to JeM and three are associated with HM.

Out of the 17 local terrorists active in the region, 14 are active in the Srinagar valley while the remaining three are carrying on their activities in the Jammu sector, sources informed.

Official sources said that from 250-odd terror-related incidents reported from J&K in 2019, the number had come down to 40-odd such incidents till the end of 2024. But the rise in terrorist activities in Jammu region last year — with the most notable one being the Reasi terror attack in Jammu where terrorists had attacked a bus carrying pilgrims in June 2024, resulting in the killing of nine persons — indicates that foreign players have become active again. “It’s not that there is an influx of terrorists in the sector. A few of them are just trying to revive their bases in the region,” a senior security official said.

Prior to the Assembly elections in J&K, The Tribune had reported that several terrorists based in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) region were planning terror attacks to unsettle the democratic exercise, though not a single serious incident took place.

However, sources informed that efforts are on to exterminate the active foreign-based as well as local terrorists from the J&K sector.