Steep drop in local militant count in Jammu and Kashmir: Officials

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New Delhi, October 25

Indicative of the fact that the terror outfits active in Jammu and Kashmir are not getting traction among locals, security agencies have claimed that the number of homegrown terrorists in the union territory (UT) has come down drastically.

The current estimate shows that while 83 foreign terrorists are active in Kashmir, there are only 54 homegrown militants operating in the Valley.

“Till last year, there were more than 100 active foreign and local terrorists operating in the Valley and the security forces had great difficulty in stopping local youths from joining ranks in Pak-based terror outfits,” a senior official said.

Now the task of the security agencies appears to have become relatively “easy”, as foreign terrorists are being “suitably tackled” by strengthening the border grid.

The security agencies are foiling infiltration attempts and undertaking sustained intelligence-based operations in the hinterland, officials said.

They said another possible reason for reduction in the recruitment of local youths into terror outfits could be strong monitoring and tracking of their online activities by the government. Terror outfits often try to glorify their activities by positing pictures of arms and ammunition on social media.

54 homegrown ultras in Valley

The current estimate shows that while 83 foreign terrorists are active in Kashmir, there are only 54 homegrown militants operating in the Valley.