Jammu and Kashmir has not seen any big terror attacks in a few weeks. But a big worry for the security forces is the supply and seizures of AK-series firearms and a rise in the movement of foreign terrorists in the union territory.
According to top sources in the government, for the past 18 months, terror organisations were transporting small weapons and giving them to the homegrown young breed of terrorists to target locals, migrants, security personnel, etc. But now there have been many instances where security forces have seized large amounts of AK-series weapons and ammunition after the elimination of terrorists.
In fact, there is a rise in the smuggling of AK-series firearms from the Pakistan side, as per official government data.
Similarly, data from Jammu and Kashmir police shows that there is a rise in the movement and involvement of foreign terrorists.
But officials in the forces say that the smuggling and use of highly sophisticated weapons are not restricted to Kashmir and are spreading in other states as well, like Punjab and Haryana.
“Killing of foreign terrorists in J&K, rise in seizures of AK-series weapons show that Pakistan-based terror outfits are pumping in weapons and sending foreign terrorists. It was noticed in late 2020 and 2021 that terror outfits were facing a shortage of weapons and used to send small weapons. Organisations were hesitant in giving sophisticated weapons to young terrorists and only commanders used to have AK-series weapons. But now that is changing,” a senior-level official deployed in the Valley told News18.
According to the data shared by Jammu and Kashmir police last month, a total of 118 terrorists have been killed in Kashmir in 2022, and 32 of them were foreign terrorists.
“So far, 118 terrorists including 32 foreign terrorists killed in Kashmir in the current year. Last year in 2021 total of 55 terrorists including 2 foreign terrorists were killed in the same period. Out of 118, 77 terrorists are from Pak sponsored LeT and 26 from JeM outfit,” Kashmir zone police tweeted.
According to the data, from last year to this year, there has been an increase of 1500% in foreign terrorists killed by security forces in Kashmir.
Data compiled by CRPF says that 82 foreign terrorists are still active in the region.
On the other hand, the Border Security Force (BSF) which guards the India-Pakistan frontier says that in the first five months of this year, the amount of AK-series weapons seized by the force, nine, equals the seizure in the whole of last year. Top officials of the BSF are expecting that these sophisticated weapons are being pumped in once again not only in Kashmir but also in other border states too.
“In 2020, on average we seized three AK-series weapons every month but there was a dip in their smuggling in 2021 and increase in smuggling of pistols, reflected in seizures done by the force. This year, again we are witnessing a rise in seizures of AK-series weapons and a dip in seizures of pistols/revolvers,” a senior BSF officer told News18.
Recently, in the Sidhu Moose Wala murder as well, investigators found that weapons were brought in from Pakistan through drones. The main weapon used in the killing of the Punjab-based singer was an AK-series firearm.
On June 27, in an encounter, security forces killed two terrorists and recovered an AK-47 from their possession. Similarly, in another encounter on June 24, they eliminated four terrorists and made a big recovery, including AK-series ammunitions, cars, etc.
It is expected that security forces will get more aggressive against terror in J&K after the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
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