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Kashmiri militants are on the run, claims army

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The Indian army has killed and arrested "a record number" of militants in the post-Kargil period in Jammu and Kashmir, where an aggressive campaign is on against Islamic fundamentalism.

Sources in the army headquarters, New Delhi, said the number of militants killed in June -- 145 -- is a record for the past three years. In the renewed offensive between August 1 and October 25, the army killed 365 militants. It arrested 64 militants and recovered 463 weapons.

The official also claimed that at least 30 major infiltration attempts were foiled during the period.

After the Kargil conflict, there was an attempt by militant groups to increase insurgency in Kashmir. There were two attacks on the civil secretariat in Srinagar, besides numerous hits on defence establishments.

In response, the army had launched an operation, code named Shakti, in the forests of Rajwar in Kupwara district and along the higher reaches of Pir Panjal in the Gulabgarh area of Udhampur district. It was aimed at "flushing out militants from the higher reaches and forcing them to come to lower areas and to destroy their logistics to make their survivability in winter difficult," an official said.

In the operation, the army claims that it was successful in busting 53 militant hideouts besides "killing some militants and the recovery of huge quantity of arms and ammunition."

The official added that the militants are on the run following the increased tempo of operations. The morale of the militants is at "a low ebb" because of heavy casualties and loss of stores, and "inter-group clashes have also shown an increase".

The army assessment also shows that the "network of the militants has been dislocated and hideouts and caches have been destroyed." "This has resulted in logistic setback and cutting off their wherewithal of sustenance during the winter months," an official said.

Meanwhile, Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistan-based militant organisation, has announced that it would step up operations in Kashmir. Toiba has reportedly announced that it would intensify its strikes in the first week of November to coincide with its annual congregation.

The outfit is to hold its annual three-day congregation at Muridke, on the outskirts of Lahore, from November 3 to 5.

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