Jammu violence more than Kashmir last year

New Delhi, 23 Jan 2022 [Fik/News Sources]:  In what may seem to be a counter-intuitive trend, in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir it was Jammu, instead of Kashmir, which saw an upsurge in overall violence last year, compared to the previous year. A decline in terrorist incidents was reported from Kashmir during the same period. 

According to data obtained from the home ministry,  Jammu recorded higher recoveries of weapons, more attacks on security forces and more killings and arrests of terrorists. Some officials attributed the increase in such incidents and arms hauls to the desperation of terror networks to open up new routes of infiltrating into the UT, as the security grid had been bolstered in the Valley following the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot last year. Some other officials and security experts said increased vigilance along the border and active anti-drone operations had resulted in higher number of seizure of arms and also helped in busting terror hideouts. 

As per data, casualties of security forces in Jammu had gone up by as much as 4.6 times, with 14 personnel killed in 2021, compared to just three the previous year. The recovery of IEDs in Jammu had gone up in 2021 by three times, twice as many terrorists were arrested last year (47), compared to 2020 (23), recovery of RDX had gone up by 1.6 times and twice as many wireless sets were recovered from terrorists in 2021.

A senior intelligence official said this rise in activities in Jammu could be attributed to terror operatives trying to explore new routes to infiltrate, with forces foiling repeated bids to push in arms and cadre into the valley.  “Poonch and Krishna sectors, both in Jammu region, emerged as the most preferred sectors for infiltration in the last three months of 2021 due to harsh winter and snowfall. This is one of the major factors for more terror incidents in Jammu last year,” he said.

A senior CRPF official deployed in the Valley said seizure of more weapons was due to heightened drone activities by terror groups operating from Pakistan. “Terrorists have been making attempts to make some areas in Jammu active.”

Two more let militants killed

SRINAGAR: Two militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. A police spokesman said based on a input regarding the presence of terrorists in Kilbal area, an  operation was launched