February 04
At least 191 local youths were recruited by various militant outfits in Jammu Kashmir in the year 2018.
The new recruits mostly hailed from the restive south Kashmir region, as per a report carried out by PTI.
126 locals had joined the militant ranks in 2017, the report said.
Most of the Militants hailed from South Kashmir districts – Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Islamabad (anantnag).
An Army official said that Militant outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashker-e- Taiba have recruited most number of youth.
He said out of the total 191 recruits, 139 alone hailed from south Kashmir.
He further said that the highest number of youth- 59 – hailed from Pulwama.
Militancy has been gaining ground in Kashmir post the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016, when 88 Kashmiri youths had joined militancy.
The Government forces were able to gun down 257 militants in the year.