70 militants killed in J&K this year, 41 after Pulwama: DGP Dilbag Singh

Srinagar: The armed forces on Wednesday claimed that they have killed around 70 militants this year out which 41 were killed after February Pulwama attack on CRPF personnel, 25 of whom belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad, which carried out the attack.

The forces were content that the local recruitment into the militant ranks has come down and the police, CRPF and Army has been able to intervene and dissuade a large number of youth from joining militancy.

Director General of J&K police, Dilbag Singh addressed a presser here in Srinagar along with General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen KJS Dhillon and Inspector General of CRPF Zulfikar Hassan.


“We killed 272 militants in 2018 and saw many positive trends during last year which is indicative of certain good things. Recruitment of local youth dipped down and continues to be low,” Singh told reporters here. The police chief claimed that the number of stone pelting incidents and law and order issues has come down as well, which is indicative of positive change among youth especially in Valley. He said that the ongoing parliamentary went on peacefully till now and low voter turnout was ‘good’ keeping in view the circumstances prevailing in the Valley.

“It is coincidental that operations in certain areas have eased out as our main focus is smooth and peaceful conduct of elections. However, our operations have not ceased but the engagement has reduced,” said Singh.