Number of J&K youths joining militancy spikes

New Delhi: The number of local Kashmiri youths recruited by terror groups in the Valley in the first five months this year alone has more than doubled as compared to the whole of 2016, intelligence agencies cautioned the Union home ministry on Friday. 

This comes a day after Union home minister Rajnath Singh said that infiltration of militants from Pakistan has dropped following the Army’s surgical strikes against terror launchpads in PoK in September last year. 

According to a report by intelligence agencies, details of which have been examined by this newspaper, the security establishment has expressed concern over terror recruitments. 

While 128 locals joined militancy last year, “the figure could be between 260 and 300 till May this year alone.’’ 

Another important issue flagged by intelligence agencies and described as “alarming’’ was that the recruitment drive, particularly by Hizbul Mujahideen, was not just limited to south Kashmir but extended to north as well as central Kashmir.

One of the main reasons, sources said, for the sharp increase in locals joining the ranks of militant groups in the Valley was the sustained and aggressive campaign, including through social media, carried out by terror modules particularly after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in July last year.

Intelligence agencies have also alerted that terror outfits were facing a severe shortage of arms and ammunition as security agencies have been successful to a large extent in checking smuggling of weapons from across the border. 

This, the report adds, could lead to an increase in incidents of militants snatching weapons from security forces in the days ahead and that most local Kashmir youths recruited recently would be used for this purpose.

“We have information that militant groups are training and instigating these youths to target security forces for weapons as they are running low on supplies. Adequate preventive measures are being taken after these new revelations. So far, militants have been able to snatch more than 100 security weapons which largely include AK and INSAS series rifles, besides magazines and bullets ,’’ a senior security official said.

One of the main reasons for local youths getting lured by Hizbul, as compared to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the other two main terror outfits active in Kashmir, is that Hizbul is largely a local group with most of its cadre and sympathisers from the Valley alone. 

As part of its propaganda campaign Hizbul recently released a picture of 27 militants at a training camp in PoK saying they would soon be `”launched into the Valley.’’

Security agencies in Kashmir have already adopted an aggressive strategy against active militants, eliminating 14 of them in the last few days and issuing a most wanted list. 

But in view of youths getting attracted to terror outfits, the home ministry in coordination with the state government will also shortly launch a sustained propaganda campaign particularly in educational institutions and rural areas. 

As part of the campaign, the Centre also plans to generate more employment opportunities to attract youths from the Valley particularly in the para-military forces and Indian reserve battalions.