Jammu and Kashmir ground situation improves after abrogation of Article 370

NEW DELHI: The terrorists strength in Jammu and Kashmir is now below 200, the security forces said on the first anniversary of abrogation of Articles 370 on Wednesday.

Local recruitment has decreased significantly and now it is primarily limited to four districts of South Kashmir, said a senior intelligence officer adding that there has been serious blow to nefarious designs of Pakistan to 'indigenise' the movement and fuel unrest in the Valley.

The security situation in the Valley has witnessed progressive improvement since Abrogation of Article 370, said the officer.

The officer pointed out that on one hand the tempo of kinetic operations in the hinterland ensured denial of operational space to terrorist tanzeems, at the same time, high level of alertness by troops along the Line of Control ensured Pakistan's endeavours to infiltrate terrorists into the Valley were blunted.

In the hinterland, Pakistan-backed terrorists are resorting to targeting innocent civilians with an aim to coerce them into following their Azadi narrative.

But domination of hinterland by security forces had a crippling effect on the terrorist tanzeems and resultantly their ability to undertake terror incidents was degraded. This year, only 70 terror-related minor incidents have been reported as compared to 107 in the same period last year. "In addition, six attempts of IED blast were foiled in the current year as a result of pro-activeness," said a senior government officer in North Block.

"Our aim has been to provide a secure environment to the Awaam which has been suffering for the last three decades due to violence," said the officer. The reduction of the number of terrorists and crippling of their networks is providing that opportunity to the Awaam and we have witnessed reduction in protests significantly as compared to 2018-19.

"Attempts of inimical elements to mislead people by running disinformation campaigns were also defeated by proactively monitoring the situation and engaging with the local population, said the officer.

Robust operations in the kinetic domain and proactive measures in the non-kinetic domain have ensured maintenance of peace and normal civic life in the Valley. There is a high level of synergy while conducting operations. "Our jawans and commanders are operating relentlessly battling the dual challenges of Pakistan abetting terror and the global pandemic," the officer said. (IANS)

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