Surge in counter-insurgency ops in Kashmir after Lok Sabha elections

SECURITY FORCES HAVE LAUNCHED EIGHT COUNTER-INSURGENCY OPERATIONS SINCE

MAY 10

SRINAGAR: : : After peaceful conduct of Lok Sabha elections, there has been a surge in operations against militancy in Kashmir valley.

Security forces have launched eight counter-insurgency operations since May 10 — four days after polling concluded in Jammu and Kashmir on May 6. There were two gunfights on Thursday and two more on Saturday.

At least 12 militants have been gunned down in six operations. Two army jawans and two civilians (police said one was an associate of militants) also were also killed during the encounters. The surge in operations has coincided with the month of Ramazan which started on May 7.

There were just four encounters between April 11 when Kashmir’s Baramulla voted in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections and May 6 when the polling ended in the valley. Eight militants were killed in these encounters.

“I agree there has been an increase in militancy-related operations after elections. But it is all part of the ongoing counterinsurgency process. The operations happen because of credible intelligence inputs,” said a senior police officer of the state, requesting anonymity.

“So far we have eliminated over 86 terrorists this year and there has been a decrease in number of youth joining militancy to the extent that the rate of elimination is more now than the rate of recruitment,” he said.

Director general of police Dilbag Singh had told a press conference on April 24 that they did not suspend the counter-insurgency operations during the polls but acknowledged their focus was on polls. “We are concentrating more on peaceful conduct of elections,” he had said.

By and large, polls across the valley remained relatively peaceful owing to the heavy presence of security forces and a three-phase election in Anantnag constituency of south Kashmir- the hotbed of militancy. Although the turnout remained low to very low, there was no large-scale violence, except for the killing of a teenaged civilian in pellet firing by security forces after the voting ended at Mandigam village in Handwara area of Kupwara district on April 11.

BJP leader Ghulam Mohammad Mir, 60, in Nowgam area of south Kashmir’s Verinag was killed by suspected militants on May 4. In contrast, the by-polls in Srinagar parliamentary constituency on April 9, 2017 had witnessed large-scale protests in which eight people were killed.

“The reasons for peaceful elections included well-planned security measures, phased elections and community involvement. Nobody was coerced to vote and there were preventive arrests as well. Splitting Anantnag polling also helped,” the officer said.