SRINAGAR: Security forces in the Kashmir region struggled against militancy in 2013 as attacks against them nearly doubled and the casualty toll tripled even as 61 militants were killed in nearly 2,000 counter-insurgency operations, a police document has revealed.
The militant attacks on security forces in the Kashmir zone increased last year by 82.4 per cent as compared to 2012, reads the police document accessed by The Tribune. The number of attacks on security forces in the region nearly doubled from 17 in 2012 to 31 in 2013.
Last year, militants carried out a series of point-blank shootings against police and paramilitary personnel, two brazen ambushes against Army personnel and a fidayeen attack which marked a major upswing in the violence.
Tracking militancy
The number of attacks on security forces in the Kashmir region nearly doubled from 17 in 2012 to 31 in 2013 & The toll has tripled as 28 Army and paramilitary personnel, 14 police personnel and three special police officers were killed in militant attacks last year. In 2012, 14 security forces personnel were killed
61 militants, including 10 ‘commanders’, were killed last year. The commanders include Shabir Ahmad Bhat and Assadullah Qari of the Hizbul Mujahideen, and Qari Yasir and Altaf Ahmad Baba of the Jaish-e-Mohammad
In recent years, the number of militants and their attacks on security forces had drastically decreased. At the beginning of last year, the number of militants present in the region was estimated to be around 100.
The police document says 28 Army and paramilitary personnel, 14 police personnel and three special police officers (SPOs) were killed in militant attacks last year, which was a three-fold increase in the casualty figures from 2012, when 14 security forces personnel were killed. The figures do not include the number of attacks and casualties in the Jammu zone.
Militants also managed to carry out attacks in Srinagar, considered a secure district, where 10 security forces personnel were killed and 40 injured. Nine personnel were killed and 17 injured in the adjoining Budgam district.
Ninety two security forces personnel were injured last year.
Last year, the security forces launched at least 1,965 counter-insurgency operations across the Kashmir zone, but managed to locate and engage militants in encounters in just 36 operations.
The number of militants killed in 2013 remained almost the same as the previous year, the document reveals. In 2013, 61 militants, including 45 foreigners, were killed, while 60 militants, including 49 foreigners, were killed in 2012.
Ten “commanders” were among the 61 militants killed last year. The commanders include Shabir Ahmad Bhat and Assadullah Qari of the Hizbul Mujahideen, and Qari Yasir and Altaf Ahmad Baba of the Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The security forces arrested 62 militants last year (138 arrested in 2012) which included Lashkar-e-Toiba’s commander Fahadullah and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Talib Lali.
