Two militants killed in Kashmir’s Bandipora

One more militant was killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Monday taking the toll to two.

The encounter erupted on Sunday evening after army and police launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Lawdara area of Bandipora, 60 kms from here, after ‘specific input’ about the presence of militants in the area.

While one militant was reportedly killed last evening, the second ultra was eliminated on Monday morning, reports said.

A police spokesperson while confirming the killing of two militants in the gun battle, said, “The bodies of the slain terrorists have been retrieved from the encounter site. The identity and group affiliation of the slain is being ascertained.”

Sources said at least two to three other militants are believed to be hiding in the area and an operation to nab them is currently underway.

Since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 and subsequent restrictions and spontaneous shutdown in Kashmir, there has been decrease in encounters between militants and security forces. While over 135 militants were killed in the first seven months this year, 17 ultras have been neutralised in eight encounters since August first week.

The source network of army and police had become almost defunct due to the snapping of mobile and internet services. A senior police officer involved in counter-insurgency operations told DH that communication blockade was one of the reasons for less number of militants being killed.

“In the absence of mobile services, the flow of information from our sources had almost dried up. Now since last month when the post-paid mobile services were restored, some inputs about the movement of militants have started to come and in the coming weeks, the frequency of encounter with militants will increase,” he revealed.

The officer said that another reason for lesser number of militants being killed was considerable drop in local recruitment into militancy this year. From January 2019 to October 15, only 39 local youth joined militancy out of which six later returned home and are living a normal life.

"Social media and internet played a vital role in luring local youth towards militancy in the last few years. Massive funerals and the gun salutes by the militants was also a major reason. All these measures have been curbed now due to which youth are not going towards militancy now,” he added.

However, sources said, while the local recruitment had gone down this year, dozens of battle hardened Pakistani militants have infiltrated into Kashmir in the last three months. After the abrogation of Article 370, Pakistan reportedly reactivated launch pads and terror camps in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).