December 14
222 Militants including foreigners have been killed in various encounters with Government Forces this year in the Himlayan region till 28 November this year as per figures available to The Kashmiriyat.
The data reveals that the year of 2018 has been the year of highest Militant killings and highest Militant recruitment in the past decade as more than 165 youth have reportedly joined Militant ranks.
Militancy which was centered around South Kashmir post the killing of Burhan Wani on July 08, 2016 also saw Militant activity picking up in Northern areas of Kashmir, many new recruits including a Ph.D Scholar from Lolab in Kupwara, Manan Wani joined Militant ranks, More than 350 young people, 80 in 2016 picked up arms challenging more than half a million Indian Troopers, 120 in 2017 and in 2018, the number of youth joining Militants has crossed the highest in the last 10 years- 165.
The year also saw a huge number of civilian Killings and the killing of Government Force personnel added to the Police kidnappings in the month of September after the arrest of relatives of active Militants and the burning of houses of two Active Militants in Shopian area.
In the Month of January, 13 Militants have been killed in various encounters with Government Forces, on 15 January, Six Jaish e Muhammad Militants were shot dead in an encounter with Forces at Uri Sector of Baramulla in North Kashmir, In Chaigund area of Shopian two Militants were killed in an encounter with forces on 24 January.
As per Data available to The Kashmiriyat, February month saw the killing of 6 Militants, on 12 February four Militants of Lashkar e Taiba were shot dead in an encounter with Forces at Karan Nagar area of Srinagar and two in Harpora area of Shopian in South Kashmir.
The month of March saw 22 Militants were killed in encounters with Government Forces. An encounter raged in Halmat pora area of Kupwara in which five affiliates of Lashkar e Taiba were killed in an encounter.
In April, 20 Militants were killed, as per Figures available to The Kashmiriyat. April 01 saw three encounters raging on a single day at three Places in South Kashmir, Kachdoora Shopian, Dragad Shopian and Dialgam area of Islamabad (Anantnag), the 30th day of April also saw the killing of popular Hizb commander, Sameer Tiger in an encounter with Government Forces in Drubgam area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama District.
18 Militants were killed in the month of May, on 6th May, an early morning encounter raged in Badigam area of South Kashmir’s Shopian District, Saddam Padder and his associates were trapped in a residential house in the area, Dr. Rafi Bhat, a faculty member of Kashmir University who had been missing for the past few days was also killed in the encounter, Tauseef Sheikh, a resident of Quimoh area in Kulgam who had been a member of Lashkar e Taiba who was active for more than six years was also killed in the encounter.
On June 10, Four Militants were killed in Keran Sector of Kupwara, on 22 June four Militants were killed in an encounter that raged in South Kashmir’s Sirigufwara area, the slain Militants included Dawood of Islamic State, Jammu Kashmir, the month of June saw the killing of 25 Militants which included a healthy number of foreigners.
Figures available to The Kashmiriyat reveal that 11 Militants were killed in the month of July, On 21 July, three Lashkar e Taiba affiliates were killed in an encounter with Government Forces in Khudwani area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, on July 24, two Militants were shot dead in Lal Chowk area of Islamabad (Anantnag).
The month of August witnessed the killing of twenty five Militants, on 8 August, Para, RR, SOG of Jammu Kashmir Police killed five Militants in an encounter at Rafiabad area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla District, Umar Ganie, the top commander of Lashkar e Taiba was killed with his four accomplices in an encounter that raged late on the night of 02 August in the Kiloora area of South Kashmir’s Shopian District, on 28 August, one of the longest surviving Militant, Altaf Ahmed Dar alias Kaczroo was shot dead in an encounter with Forces in Muniwar area of South Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district.
September again saw the killing of 31 Militants in various encounters with Government Forces, on 21 September, Five Lashkar e Taiba Militants were shot dead in Sumblar area of Bandipora, the Forces claimed that the Militants were foreigners, however the Militant outfits issued a statement mentioning that the Militants killed in a two day long encounter were all locals, the Hizb identified them as Hyder Ali from Brazloo Kulgam, Muhammad Umar from Shopian, Muhammad Sidiq from Bandipora, Mawiya from Kangan and Usman from Lolab, On 15 September Five Hizb ul Mujahideen Militants were killed in an encounter with Forces at Czowagam area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam District.
As per data available to The Kashmiriyat twenty four Militants were killed in the month of October. On 20 October, three Militants affiliated to Jaish e Muhammad were killed in an encounter at Laroo area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam District, seven civilians were also killed on that day, when the Forces left the encounter site unsanitized, on 25 October eight Militants were killed in three separate encounters, two at Athoora, Baramulla district, four at Arwani in Bijbehara, two at Sopore town in Baramulla.on 31 October, two more Militants were killed in Zagoo area of Khan Sahib in Budgam District of Central Kashmir.
In November, 37 Militants were killed in encounters with Government Forces, Within a gap of six days twenty Militants were killed, two civilians were also shot dead during this time, On 23 November, an encounter raged in Setkipora area of Bijbehara in Islamabad (Anantnag) which saw the killing of six Lashkar e Taiba Militants including, Azad Malik the top commander of Lashkar e Taiba, On 25 November, Six militants were killed in an overnight gunfight which erupted between militants and government forces in Batagund area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district, Umer Majeed Ganie who recently appeared in a photograph clicked at Srinagar’s Ghanta Ghar was among the six killed Militants, On 28 November Naveed Jatt, the top Pakistani commander of Lashkar e Taiba was killed in an encounter that raged in Central Kashmir.