militancy in Kashmir will remain alive for a few more years

GK—————A senior army commander on Frida said that militancy in Kashmir will remain alive for a few more years “due to alienation among youth, local support to militants and successful infiltration bids on the Line of Control and through some other routes.”

He also said that had the government forces not been able to kill 200 militants this year, the number of active militants would have swelled to 400.

General officer commanding of army’s Srinagar-based 15 corps, lieutenant general JS Sandhu said that militancy in Kashmir will continue to exist for a few years at least.

“We need to see who is behind militancy in Kashmir; it is Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen and now there is a talk of some groups that include Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Al-Badr, whom Pakistan is trying to propagate,”.

The GoC said that there is also “some amount” of local support to militants and alienation among youth exists, especially in southern areas of Kashmir, which is pushing young boys to join the militant groups.

(BRIEF BY SHAILESH KUMAR)