NEW DELHI:   After the recent success in eliminating terrorists in the Valley, the Army is planning to bring about changes to its Counter Terrorism strategy in Kashmir. “We are working to rearrange the tactics of active engagement and dominance on ground. The aim is to reduce the stop-over time of the terrorists on the move, which at present is of 4-5 hours. They will either be forced to move out and commit mistakes or compelled to lie low,” said a senior Army officer. 

Army has planned the tweak based on the analysis of the way Operation ‘All Out’ has led to the elimination of a large number of terrorists including the commanders. “We have been able to reduce the average active life of a terrorist to six months because of the pinpointed information about their movement. We have also been able to generally map the areas which have a majority of terrorists,” shared an officer.

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A total of 318 terrorists were killed in 2018 and 232 militants killed in 2010. Terrorism has got concentrated in the South Kashmir and out of the 50 youth picking weapons against the security forces till now most are from the four districts viz.

Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, and Anantnag. The maximum of 14 have come from Pulwama alone. Also, the second highest is from Shopian and Kulgam with 9 each. 8 joined from Anantnag.  “Out of the total of 280 active terrorists from Kashmir 60 to 70 are from Pulwama and Shopian,” said the officer.

Eye on Yatra

Amarnath Yatra is to begin in the first week of July for which Army is busy making security arrangements. “We have plans ready to hold the advantage point and the heights on the way to the holy cave. Two to four battalions will be put into operations,” said the senior officer.