Shopian tops the list:News report details rising militancy trend

SRINAGAR: Following the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani in 2016, there has been an abrupt increase in youth joining militant ranks in Kashmir.
According to a report of a national daily, 216 local youth joined militancy in Kashmir since July 8, 2016, when Wani was killed along with two of his accomplices in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Kokernag area.
At the same time, 121 militants have been killed since June 8, the report says. These figures it says are based on a report of security agencies.
Almost half the recruitments into militant ranks in the Valley after the killing of Wani came from within 10 km of the residences of killed militants or encounter sites and these recruitments took place within 40 days of the encounters, it says.
Since 2010 unrest, over 467 local youth from 354 villages across Kashmir and the Chenab valley have become militants. Among them, 335 have come from 247 villages in south Kashmir.
In 2018, 26 militants were killed while 46 fresh recruits were reported. Four were killed in January against 15 recruitments. None killed in February but five joined militant ranks and seven were killed in March against ten new recruits. In April, 18 militants were killed and 16 local youth joined militancy.
The report divides Kashmir into 29 clusters, and finds that while the epicentre of the new militancy lies in south Kashmir, local youth have been recruited in almost every district in the Valley, besides Doda, Kishtwar, Reasi and Ramban in the Chenab valley of Jammu province.
Shopian district in south Kashmir tops the list, with 95 local youth from 70 villages having joined militancy since 2010. The largest number of local militants have come from Heff Zainpora, seven of whose youths have taken up arms since 2010. Pahlipora Keller, Zainpora, and Padderpora villages have produced four local militants each. Three other villages in the district have produced three militants each, while two militants each have come from four villages, the report says.
In Pulwama district, 88 local militants have come from 60 villages in the last eight years. Six youths each belong to the district’s Kakpora and Lelhar villages. Two villages have five militants each, Gundbagh village has three, and five villages have two local militants each.
The security report has analysed 43 encounters since November 5, 2016, until April 26 this year, in which 77 militants were killed while 104 were recruited and this recruitment was directly linked to the killing of militants in their area or a killed militant belonged to their area.