40 foreign militants killed this year, all outfits facing leadership crisis: J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh

Says a few have managed to sneak in who are being tracked down; militants may try to infiltrate ahead of snowfall, Counter Infiltration grid ready foil such bids; Stone pelting has ended, local militant recruitment almost zero; killing of non-locals a move to provoke people across India to target Kashmiris; Thankful to Indian citizens for not falling in trap; use of readymade IEDs a new strategy of militants

Srinagar, Oct 30 : J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh Thursday said that police had specially focussed on wiping out foreign militants in Kashmir this year and 40 of them were killed with the result local militant recruitment also dropped significantly.

“This year, our special focus was to eliminate foreign militants of various outfits operating in the Valley. They were instrumental in provoking and luring our youth into militancy,” the DGP told reporters on the sidelines of Kashmir Marathaon-2022 organised by the J&K police in Srinagar, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

He said that this year 40 foreign militants were killed in various operations while a few are still at large. “Those active are on the radar of police and security forces. They will also be killed soon,” he said. “Today, all outfits are facing a leadership crisis as their infrastructure stands dismantled to a great extent.”

He said that with the killing of foreign militants, the local militant recruitment has dropped significantly. To query about a dip in stone pelting and street protests, the DGP Singh said that the credit goes to the people and the youth who choose to stay away from violence. “The youth preferred to shape their careers in various fields. Stone pelting has come to an end in the past three years and local militant recruitment too has dropped to almost zero,” the J&K police chief said.

About IED attacks in J&K, the DGP said that readymade IEDs are low cost for militants and in fact a new strategy aimed at inflicting maximum damage to forces and less to militants. “This is a new strategy by militants. Such consignments were seized in Jammu that were airdropped through drones. Unfortunately, some IED explosions were reported in Udhampur in which a few people lost their lives,” he said.

On infiltration, the DGP said that compared to previous years, this year infiltration has shown a fall while a few successful attempts were reported. “Since weather is changing and winter is round the corner, militants may be pushed into this side before snow blocks passes on the LoC,” he said.

To a query about target killings, the DGP said that such acts are being carried out to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the Valley and to damage the age-old fabric of communal harmony. “A major aim of such acts is to provoke people across India to target Kashmiris working in many Indian states. I am grateful to Indian citizens for behaving maturely and not falling into the trap laid by the agencies supporting militancy,” he said as per KNO.

The DGP said that police are organizing the marathon 2022 in which people of all ages participated including physically abled children and elderly. “More events are on cards especially the football event under civic action program of the police,” he said—(KNO)