Srinagar: Nearly 1800 militants belonging to various Pakistan-based outfits as well
as local groups were operating in Jammu and Kashmir at present, a senior BSF (Border
Security Force) official said on October 11.
"According to intelligence reports, 1700 to 1800 militants belonging to 13 outfits,
both Pakistan-based and local groups, are operating in the state at present," BSF DIG
R S Bhullar told reporters in Srinagar.
Out of these groups, over 50 per cent were Pakistan-based ones like Lashkar-e-Toiba,
al-Badr, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Tehreek-e-Jihad-i-Islami, he
said.
Giving the details of operations by the BSF in recent months, Bhullar said since July
19 2002, 98 militants were killed in 35 encounters with the force along the line os
control (LoC).
Ninety per cent of the slain ultras was Pakistanis, he said, adding one to two per
cent of them was from Baluchistan and Sindh province while the rest were from Punjab
province of Pakistan.
The militants were a demoralised lot at present due to deplomatic pressure over
Pakistan, he said.
The BSF DIG said there was a decline in suicide attacks by ultras since January
following pressure from the US. The fact that most of the militants who carried out
such attacks were killed also was a cause for the fall, he added.
PTI
