Five Years On: Kashmir Valley Stabilizes, Jammu Faces Terror Onslaught
Five years after the abrogation of the special status, the security apparatus was confident about the decline in militancy in the Valley, but now it looks like terror has a new address — Jammu.
Militants have shifted the battleground from the Valley to the mountainous forests of Jammu, triggering a spike in deadly strikes and forcing the security forces to rush to the drawing board.
From 2023 to mid-July this year, over 40 security personnel have been killed in J&K. From 2019- 2022, over 200 security personnel were killed in the entire UT.
“Pakistan has shifted theatre to Jammu. A group of highly trained militants are currently operating in the Jammu region. They are taking advantage of topography and using encrypted communication systems,” reveals a security official.
It was bound to happen, states Ayjaz Wani, a fellow in the strategic studies programme at the Observer Research Foundation think tank. “After 2019, the new security grid in Kashmir was able to control terrorism, separatism and anti-state activities. The security forces continued to maintain an upper hand in the Valley, mounting pressure on the terror network. It was a matter of time before the geography of terrorism shifted, and it did,” says Wani, who has written extensively on Kashmir’s security situation.
Police officers say that over the past five years, they have been successful in hitting at the core of militancy in the Valley. “Besides targeting separatist parties, overground workers were identified through massive investigation. Top militants were taken down and the number of active local terrorists is below 20 now,” says a counterterrorism officer.
There is also a decline in street protests. “Even if there was a protest on a smaller scale, we would take strict action and it helped,” an official informs. Last month, north Kashmir’s Pattan area saw the first major incident of throwing stones since the abrogation of Article 370. The reason was as basic as it was mundane — water scarcity.
In 2021, new units were set up to accelerate action against the terror network. The Jammu and Kashmir Government sanctioned the creation of a specialised investigating body, the State Investigation Agency (SIA). In 2023, a terror-monitoring group was established.
Persistent action forces the militants to lie low and opt for a hybrid mode of terror, say officials. A hybrid militant is someone who carries attacks and has no criminal records, they explain.
“Fewer than 10 locals have joined the ranks this year,” an official says, adding that the hybrid mode is a real challenge for the security forces.
A multi-pronged strategy was adopted by the security forces. The properties of local militants based in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir was seized in Kashmir. They also cracked down on social media pages/posts “propagating separatism” by those based abroad. “We identified them and took strict action, even revoking passports in some cases. A tough message was sent out that we meant business,” say officials.
The security agencies also went after separatists. “All separatists are behind bars. It has helped create a peaceful situation in the Valley,” they say. Last month in Parliament, the Home Ministry — quoting comparative data — revealed that “strategies and actions” had led to a decline in terror incidents in J&K. In 2018, 91 security personnel were killed while 30 were killed in 2023. Till July 21 this year, 14 have been killed.
However, danger lurks in the region, only half the battle has been won.
