Ahead of the winter, Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a spike in violence against security forces who have faced high incidence of casualties this year despite a remarkable decline in militancy-related incidents.
While 35 security personnel lost their lives in 151 incidents of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022, the toll of security forces in the union territory has reached 22 in just 52 incidents till September 22 this year, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), which monitors violence in J&K.
Of these, official data shows that eight security personnel were killed in Kashmir which includes two Army officers and a J&K Police officer among four personnel who were gunned down in a single incident in south Kashmir’s Kokernag region last week.
While violence is subsiding in Kashmir, the number of casualties suffered by security forces in Jammu, which was declared militancy-free some years ago, has nearly doubled. The theatre of militancy has seemingly shifted to Jammu’s Pir Panjal region which bounds the valley from the west and the south.
A chain of mountains in the lower Himalayas, extending from Gulmarg in north Kashmir to Kishtwar in the south from where it stretches into Himachal Pradesh, the Pir Panjal region comprises Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi districts of Jammu division which is home to lush forests and some of J&K’s highest peaks.
Sneaking into J&K from the Line of Control (LoC) – and even local militants, many of whom are believed to be taking shelter in the region’s dense forests which have natural caves shielded under thick vegetation cover.
According to Army , above 20 foreigners are shuttling the Pir Panjal region, which separates Jammu division from Kashmir Valley, and even reportedly crossing back the LoC into Pakistan occupied J&K (PoJ&K) after carrying out deadly attacks on security forces and civilians.
Official data shows that more than two dozen army soldiers and dozens of civilians have been killed in terror attacks over the last two years in Pir Panjal.
In the last fortnight alone, security forces and terrorists were caught in at least eight face-offs across the union territory, including in Srinagar, the capital, where an unidentified militant opened fire on a truck of Central Reserve Paramilitary Forces (CRPF) in Khanyar locality on September 18 but wasn’t able to cause any damage.
Six face-offs took place in the Pir Panjal region or its adjoining areas. Some of these face-offs have turned deadly, resulting in the killing of security personnel, including officers.
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