February 07
The Indian Army Thursday said that 450 militants were operating in Jammu Kashmir.
They said that the infrastructure across the Line of Control (LoC) was intact with the full support of Pakistan as 16 militant camps were operating in the neighbouring country and Pakistan administered Kashmir.
“The number of militants is more on the north of Pir Panjal. Around 350 to 400 militants are active in the Kashmir valley. On the south of Pir Panjal (the Jammu region), there are 50 militants,” Northern Army commander Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh told reporters in Udhampur.
He added that 191 youngsters had joined militant groups in the Kashmir valley, but there was a relative decline in the number of people joining such outfits over the last few months.
“According to reports, 191 youngsters are reported to have joined militancy. Most of the recruitments took place up to the month of August. There was a relative decline in the number of youngsters joining militancy from October till now,” Lt General Singh said.
Castigating the narrative being created that it was an indigenous movement, he said of the 836 militants killed in the state in the last five years, 490 were “Pakistani or foreign militants”.
The Army was working against the trend of more youth joining Militancy, he added.