‘170-175 militants active in Valley, recruitment down’
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Mar 14: General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lieutenant General D P Pandey today said that as of now and especially for the past few years, the Kupwara district bordering Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) is militancy free and the most peaceful area of the Valley.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function of inaugurating a Computer Centre and Nursing Home at Kunan, Trehgam area of northern district of Kupwara, the GOC said people of Kupwara have rejected the violence and are enjoying peace.
“Kupwara was the worst hit by militancy and violence. But today, and for the past few years, the district is peaceful and people are living in a peaceful atmosphere as they have rejected the violence. This area was once a hotbed of militancy but of late, people of this place are enjoying the peace,” he said.
Lt General Pandey said that there is an atmosphere of peace prevailing in entire Kashmir and the security grid is fully prepared to deal with any situation. “Operations are being carried out wherever we get inputs of militants hiding but it was the collective responsibility of the society to prevent killings of security forces personnel who come to their homes on leave and also to stop youth from treading the wrong path,” he added.
He said that local militant recruitment was much less this year as compared to previous years and on the LoC, “we are alert to foil all possible infiltration bids.”
The GOC said that at least 170-175 militants are still active in Kashmir while militancy have also registered a significant decline from the last two years.
“As compared to the last two years, the active militant rate has come more down while as 170-175 militants are active in Kashmir, ” he said in reply to a query whether militancy is decreasing in Kashmir and how many are still active.
On Kunan-Poshpora, the GOC said that a delegation from the village met them and were demanding the rehabilitation and self-employment opportunities for the people as after the 1991 incident a fake narrative was created which kept them away from all the basic facilities and they were kept separate from other others.
“Today, I personally visited the area and their demands that including computer centre, self-employment generation for girls, sports development and other were being met, ” he said, adding that there are further demands as well which will be addressed soon.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
