Militancy spike in Jammu and Kashmir after 15 years

NEW DELHI: The latest terrorist attack, possibly staged by Kashmir militants who sneaked in from Pakistan, comes when militancy in J&K has begun climbing up after 15 years.

Officials said the attack falls into a pattern observed recently of terrorists sneaking in through the riverine border along Jammu, and launching attacks on police stations and security installations. This is the fifth such incident in the last year and a half.

What should worry the government most is the larger trend visible in these recent incidents, officials say. Estimates show that militancy in J&K has registered a spike for the first time in one year, after going down for 15 years. "Assessed on various measures of militancy-infiltration, attacks on security agencies and civilians, security forces etc -the past year has been unusual," one official said.





The assessment coincides with reports of Kashmiri youth taking to militancy in recent months. Local police say Kashmir Valley has at least 142 active militants. Of them, 88 are local and only 54 foreigners. For the first time in a decade local militants are outnumbering foreigners. "The regularity of reports (of local youth joining militancy) has of late gone up," he said.

The Kashmir situation has been getting murky with repeated targeting of mobile phone towers, and mysterious killings. Over a dozen mobile towers have been targeted in the Valley recently. Officials claims these strikes are retaliation by militants against reported seizure of their booster stations in a mobile tower. But many question the theory.

Sources say J&K will continue to witness heightened violence in the coming months, because of the new local militants, mostly educated youth from well off families, and cross-border support.

"We must be worried about both the local factor and infiltration from across the border," a senior official said. He pointed out that terrorist camps, launch pads, and their infrastructure across the border are very robust.

MHA was warned about a strike along the international border in Jammu by BSF in March in the form of a dossier which claimed that infiltration bids and attacks by Pak terrorists were imminent.The report followed a Fidayeen attack on a police station in Kathua and an army camp at Samba in March. The report also mentioned four launch pads in Pakistan (adjoining international border in Jammu) from where terrorists were likely to strike.