UPDATES

December 24 2018 has been the deadliest year in a decade as the year has seen highest number of Militants killings, 237, civilians killing 140 and 120 Government Force personnel have been killed while in 2017, 86 encounters resulted in the death of  213 Militants. Figures available to The Kashmiriyat suggest that 103 Encounters have raged between Government Forces and Militants in which at least 237 Militants have been killed, the encounters have happened mostly in residential areas of South Kashmir, but also along the Line of control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Besides, 01 April this year, saw three encounters raging in a single day, one in Kachdoora Shopian, second one at Dialgam Islamabad (Anantnag) and the last one at Dragad in Shopian, the three encounter...

December 22 Soliha Mohammed Akhoon, 25 a resident of Arampora area in South Kashmir's Tral Hamlet and the closest aide of Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind, Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Musa was killed in an encounter with Government Forces on Saturday morning. An Official said that based on credible inputs of presence of AGH Militants in the Arampora, the forces including 42RR of Indian Army, Jammu Kashmir Police and 180 Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force launched a Cordon and Search Operation on the area, As the forces were conducting searches, militants opened fire on them, he said, adding the forces retaliated leading to a gunfight in which six militants were killed. Saliha, the deputy of Zakir Musa had joined Militant outfit, Hizb ul Mujahideen in the summer of 2015 after he gave up hi...

December 21 The PHE and I&FC Departments today ordered confirmation of the promotion of 180 Junior Engineers, who have been since placed against higher posts. The promotions were cleared at the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting convened at JKPSC here today. Secretary PHE, I&FC, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Members for Public Service Commission and other concerned officers were present at the meeting. Farooq Shah said even the Chief Engineers, Executive Engineers, Assistant Executive Engineers and Assistant Engineers of I&FC and PHE Departments have been working as Incharge for decades.  “Some engineers are on the verge of retirement but they are still technically JEs and some are already retired from the department,” he said. The Department has now started finalizing th...

December 20 The civilian killings in Kashmir Valley in the past four years has increased manifold, as per stats, In contrast to 41 civilian killings in 2015, at least 130 civilians were killed till December 01 in current year-2018, as per figures available to The Kashmiriyat, the list does not include those killed during ceasefire Violations along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. From 2015 to 2018, Kashmir has witnessed at least 383 civilian killings. At least 126 civilians died in 2016 and so far the number of civilian casualties is same in the first 11 months of current year, in 2017, at least 86 civilians were killed in Jammu Kashmir. As per figures available to The Kashmiriyat, 12 civilians were killed in January, On 9 January, One Civilian ...

December 20 A day before the 40-day-long period of harsh winter ‘Chillai Kalan’ sets in, biting cold swept the Kashmir Valley on Thursday with further drop in the night temperatures. The ‘Chillai Kalan’ sets each year on December 21 and ends on January 30. Water bodies have already started freezing in the valley, Small fires are lit each morning around water taps to de-freeze them. Met officials said there was further drop in night temperatures during the last 24 hours as Leh recorded minus 14.7, Srinagar minus 4.9, Pahalgam minus 6.8 and Gulmarg minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, Jammu recorded 6.1, Katra

December 19 Mobile Internet services continued to remain barred in South Kashmir Districts in the Kashmir valley for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday after the killing of ten people in Pulwama. The Mobile Internet services were barred in Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Islamabad (Anantnag) districts on Saturday after seven civilians were shot dead by Government Forces in Sirnoo area of South Kashmir's Pulwama District. Telecom authorities shortly received communication to snap down mobile internet in the entire Kashmir valley, however the Services were restored in most parts of the valley including Srinagar on Monday evening. "We have not received any communication for the restoration of Mobile internet services as of yet," a telecom official told The Kashmiriyat. Snappin...

The Jammu Kashmir Government on Tuesday announced winter vacations for colleges. A government order said that the all colleges of Kashmir division shall observe winter vacation from December 24 2018 to February 11 2019. The order also stated that all government degree colleges of Jammu division except those falling in winter zone of the division shall observe the vacations from January 7 2019 to January 16 2019. The colleges falling in winter zone of Jammu division shall observe winter vacation from January 1 to February 19 2019.

December 14 An Army man has posted the video of two unknown Kashmiri girls walking in traditional attire on a street at an undisclosed location. The 15 Second video posted on Social networking Tik Tok has evoked sharp criticism as the video has been clicked without the consent of the two girls as clearly visible in the video. In this video, the Army man in Army fatigue can be seen holding a rifle amid slight snowfall in the background, the girls are annoyed as they pass by carrying a basket of vegetables, wearing their traditional attire. The video has evoked sharp criticism on Social Media and the aghast users are circulating the video amid anguish and anger. The Kashmiriyat verified the account of the user and found that the Army man had posted a video atop a cassipire veh...