227 Militants Including 9 Top Commanders Killed This Year So Far, 37 In November: Report

Srinagar: 37 militants have been killed in gunfights with government forces across Kashmir in the month of November making it the bloodiest month of this year for the militants. The slain militants include top nine commanders.

As per official figures, 227 militants have been killed in different parts of Kashmir so far this year.

While they belonged to different organisations, the Lashkar and Hizbul Mujahideen suffered major losses this month as both groups lost some of their top commanders, especially in south Kashmir, Hindustan Times reported. Last year, 207 militants were killed in this period.

This November, nine militant commanders were killed – five affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen and four with the Lashkar. J&K’s director general of police, Dilbag Singh told Hindustan Times that the number of militants at present is hovering around 250. “After several successful operations, the graph of militancy, especially in south Kashmir, has come down and fresh recruitment has also declined.’’

The report quoting another senior police official said that this year more than 15 top militant commanders affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ul- Mujahideen and Ansar–ul-Gazwat- ul-Hind were killed in different anti-militancy operations by the government forces.

The officer said that now only three to four prominent top commanders are active – Hizbul Mujahideen’s operational commander, Riyaz Naikoo, Al Badr commander, Zeenat-ul Islam who was earlier with Hizbul Mujahideen and now has shifted to Albadr, Lateef Tiger who was an associate of Burhan Wani and Zakir Musa, the chief of Ansar-ul-Gazwat-ul-Hind.

“The killings of several commanders have put the commanders who are at large under tremendous pressure,’’ the officer said.