Sharp dip in terror-linked J&K deaths

■ 29 civilians, 26 personnel killed till Nov. 15, lowest in 6 yrs

A total of 29 civilians and 26 security personnel have been killed in the Kashmir Valley in 2022 till November 15, the officials of the Jammu and Kashmir police said.

According to the official data, among 29 civilians, three were local Kashmiri Pandits, three other Hindus and 15 Muslims while six outsider Hindus and two Muslims were killed till November 15.

Similarly, out of 26 personnel martyred, 14 were from the J&K police, five from the Central armed police forces and seven from the Indian Army in various operation against the terrorists. The officials also said that this was the lowest number of casualties since 2016.

The officials also said that two Kashmiri Pandits were killed in Shopian, one in Budgam while two outsiders were killed in Sopian and one in Budgam.

In 2016, as many as 106 civilians and security personnel were killed, 155 in 2017, 166 in 2018,123 in 2019, 95 in 2020 and 64 in 2021.

In 2016, a total of 23 civilians were killed, 83 security personnel were martyred, 71 civilians and 84 security personnel in 2017, 80 civilians and 86 personnel in 2018, 46 civilians and 77 personnel in 2019, 37 civilians and 58 security personnel in 2020 and 35 civilians and 29 personnel were killed in 2021.

The J&K police officials also said that as many as 81 terrorists, comprising of 29 local and 52 foreign origin (Pakistan), have been active in Kashmir valley. Out of 81, as many as 44 have been active in

South Kashmir, 28 in north Kashmir and seven in central Kashmir, which will also be neutralized in days to come.

Recently, additional director general of police Vijay Kumar had said that the three south Kashmir districts — Bandipora, Kupwara and Ganderbal — have zero active terrorists currently even as two prominent terror groups, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed, have gone headless after security forces neutralised their operatives and commanders.