'Increasing number of Kashmiri youth taking to militancy'

Srinagar, Aug 26: Increasing number of Kashmiri youth are joining militancy and this is a matter of concern, a top army commander said today while talking about the strategy of Pakistan-based terror groups to focus on recruiting locals after their "failure" to push in terrorists.

Outgoing Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Subrata Saha said "several motives" are being exploited by recruiters, including religious radicalisation, discontent due to personal or academic failures, links with terrorists and overground workers and desire for recognition or status.

"Any youth joining terrorists' ranks is a cause of concern," he told PTI while mentioning that there has been an increase in the number of youth recruited in 2014-15 as compared to 2012-13.

Gen Sahu, who is moving to Army Headquarters in Delhi for his next assignment, said "attempts of infiltration" from across the border had increased this year but "the attempts have resulted in their failure".

Describing it as "a battle between their desperation and our determination", he said there has been an increase in the intensity of attempts this year which is evident from 11 attempts in which 19 terrorist neutralised.

"Without getting into specifics, even other indicators suggest an increase in number awaiting infiltration," he added.

He was asked if the infiltration level was nearly zero, how did four Lashker-e-Taiba terrorists, including Mohammed Naved Yakub who was caught alive during Udhampur attack, manage to sneak in from Gulmarg sector.

"This case is still being investigated and there have been repeated changes in his (Naved's) statements. We will wait for the final inference," he said.

PTI