Almost 720 terrorists have been eliminated in the past five years in Jammu and Kashmir and the figures of residual terrorists as of today stands around 130, said Northern Command chief Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar on Friday.
Fielding media queries at Udhampur on the sidelines of a programme, General Kumar said, “South of Pir Panjal, the region from Kathua-Samba and the districts of Rajouri, Poonch and hinterland of Udhampur, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar and Bhaderwah were largely peaceful for more than a decade and a half. The region has got the challenge of IB and LoC, roughly 210 km of IB and about an equal amount in the neighbouring command (of 16 corps)”.
“Now, what has happened in the past five years is that almost 720 terrorists have been neutralised and the residual terrorists, as of today, as per estimates of various agencies stand around 120 to 130,” he added.
The northern Army commander informed that the recruitment of new cadres (terrorists) was in single digit.
“Therefore, the adversary (Pakistan) finds that its narrative and the terrorism that it has been nurturing, is on an extremely steady decline. So, there is a push to terrorists and we also have had successes on the LoC in Rajouri and also in Baramulla and Kupwara districts in the last few weeks,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Therefore, the adversary (Pakistan) finds that its narrative and the terrorism that it has been nurturing, is on an extremely steady decline. So, there is a push to terrorists and we also have had successes on the LoC in Rajouri and also in Baramulla and Kupwara districts in the last few weeks,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}On sudden spike in terror attacks, he said, “The aim appears to intimidate the populace and disrupt peace and development in the area but I must assure you that the situation is under control.”
He informed that the strategy was to first get accurate information about terrorists and then eliminate them swiftly.
“Our strategy is to get information accurately first. All weather surveillance is there on the LoC including host of technological infusion. We have a dynamic multi-tier counter infiltration grid and also dynamic deployment in the hinterland in synergy with various stakeholders. We have inducted additional forces and we are confident that we will handle this situation,” he asserted.