37, in November, 227 this year: Here is how many terrorists Indian Army killed in J&K

Srinagar, Nov 30: There have been six encounters in nine days in Jammu and Kashmir and 28 terrorists were killed during this period. The month of November was a largely successful one for the security forces.

In 29 days, the security forces in November have gunned down 37 terrorists of which 28 were from the terror infested South Kashmir. Statistics also reveal that the very troubled Shopian district witnessed the killing of 13 terrorists between November 1 and 29.

The over all number of terrorists to have been killed this year is 227. Last year the number of terrorists to have been killed by the security forces was 207.

The most successful days of the month have been November 23 and 24. In these two days, the forces gunned down 12 terrorists. The first encounter of the month was at Budgam in Central Kashmir. Two local terrorists, Mukthar Ahmed Khan and Muhammad Amin Mir were killed in the encounter.

In the Bhijbehara encounter, six terrorists were killed. They included Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Azad Ahmad Malik, Basir Mir, Unais, Shahid, Aqib and Umar Ghanie. In Shopian those to be gunned down on a single day were Azad Ahmad Malik, Basit Ahmad Mir, Unais, Atif Hassan Najar, Shahid and Firdous Ahmad Mir.

What is even more important is that out of the 37 terrorists to have been killed this month, nine were commanders. Earlier this week, a top terrorist of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the killer of noted journalist, Shujaat Bukhari was gunned down in an encounter with the security forces. This was probably one of the most successful operations of the year.

Most of the terrorists killed this week were involved in luring youth into terrorism. They were also the same ones who had indulged in the killings of civilians while accusing them of being informers, Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh said. The people must heave a sigh of relief as South Kashmir will see less of terrorism, Singh also added.

He also said that the recruitment had come down to a large extent. In the past two months there has not been a single instance of a local youth joining terrorism, he also said.

He said that those local youth who have joined terrorism, must shun their weapons and return to the mainstream. We will sincerely help the locals to return and join their families, he also assured.