‘171 TERRORISTS KILLED IN J&K IN 2021, 19 WERE FROM PAK’

Border Security Force (BSF) personnel celebrate the arrival of New Year 2022, at the International Border in Kanachak, Akhnoor sector, in Jammu on Friday. ANI

A total of 171 terrorists were killed this year of which 19 were Pakistani terrorists, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that all those who were involved in the Zewan terror attack, in which three police personnel were killed and 11 injured on December 13, have been neutralized. “An encounter broke out last night at the Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar as we got information that three terrorists involved in the Zewan terror attack are hiding. Security forces cordoned the area, during initial firing three Police and two CRPF personnel got injured. All injured personnel are stable,” he said.

He further said in the encounter, three terrorists affiliated with terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were killed. “One of them have been identified as Suhail Ahmad Rather, two are yet to be identified,” he added.

The IGP further said that the active strength of terrorists in North Kashmir is 65, in Central Kashmir, there are 16 terrorists and in South Kashmir, there are 87 terrorists. As of now there are total 168 active terrorists in the valley.

“A total of 171 terrorists were killed this year, out of which 19 were Pakistani terrorists and 152 were local terrorists. Last year 37 civilians were killed but this year 34 civilians have been killed,” said IGP Kashmir.

He said that almost all the top commanders of the terrorist group were killed this year, only three-four are left. Almost all the long-term surviving terrorists have been neutralised.

Kumar further said that they are preparing a database of all the drug victims to reduce their number in the future.

“Narcotic cases have been one of our top priorities. 815 FIRs have been lodged and almost 400 chargesheets filed. A total of 1465 arrests have taken place this year. We are preparing a database of all the drug victims to reduce their number in the future,” added Kumar.

The IGP also said that they also recovered a huge amount of arms, ammunition and IEDs from the terrorists.

On Thursday, Kumar had said that the number of active terrorists in the valley has come down to fewer than 200 while the number of active local terrorists had reduced to fewer than 100.