Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 274 incidents of fatalities which includes the killings of civilians, militants and security personnel in the year 2021.
The data available with The Quint reveals that between January 2021 to December, a total of 189 militants were killed in different gunfights with security forces in J&K.
According to police, this year most of the militants killed in J&K were locals. “About 15 percent of militants including intruders killed on Line of Control were non-locals while 85 percent were locals.”
During the second straight year, all 184 militants killed in the region were buried in isolated places of Baramulla, Kupwara and Ganderbal in the presence of the magistrates.
During the previous year, the region recorded the elimination of 203 militants, while 160 militants were killed in the year 2019 followed by 257 militants in 2018. In 2017, 213 militants were killed whereas 150 militants were killed in 2016.
During the current year, 41 civilians were also allegedly killed either by militants or security forces. Civilian fatalities had dropped from 42 in 2019 to 33 in 2020 but this year the number increased from 33 to 39.
Barring suicide or fratricidal incidents, total 44 security personnel were killed by militants in the region.
Trouble in Paradise
The killings forced non-locals and migrant Pandits to leave the Valley.
The Resistance Front, a militant outfit that the government said is affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for most of the killings, stating they were targeting people who worked with the “government and were anti-Kashmir”.
However, the militant outfit suffered a major blow in July with the killing of 37 militants. In the same month, two security personnel and a civilian were also killed.
The violence came down in the month of September as only 12 killings took place in the region which includes the killing of 9 militants, 2 security personnel and one civilian.
In the current year, 20 policemen were also killed in different militant attacks compared to 16 last year.
In the year 2019, total 11 policemen were killed but in the year 2018, police suffered massive damage with the 46 fatalities.