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There has been a 31 percent increase in deaths due to terrorist-related incidents in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) in one year since the Indian Army conducted what are called “surgical strikes” in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to an IndiaSpend analysis of data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), run by the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, a non-profit organisation.
He said terrorists keep infiltrating into India because their camps remain operational in PoK.
SATP compiles data on deaths due to terrorism from media reports. The data is provisional, and current as on 24 September 2017.
The number of security personnel killed in terrorist-related violence has declined 2.5 percent from 79 in 2015-16 to 77 the following year, according to an analysis of data compiled by SATP.
The number of civilian casualties from terrorist-related violence increased almost five times to 52 in 2016-17 from 10 in 2015-16.
The Indian Army killed three terrorists in Uri, J&K on 25 September 2017. The Army thwarted a major terrorist attack, similar to the one on an Army base in the same area that left 19 soldiers dead and 17 injured on 18 September 2016.
The surgical strikes, or forays into Pakistan by special forces, in 2016 were touted as a revenge for the Uri attack.
On 29 September 2016, the Indian Army crossed the Line of Control (LoC) into PoK to carry out “surgical strikes” on terror “launch pads,” Director General of Military Operations Lt General Ranbir Singh had announced.
“The operations were focused to ensure that these terrorists do not succeed in endangering lives of citizens in our country. During the counter-terrorist operations, significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists,” Singh had said.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah had lauded Modi and the Army over the surgical strikes, calling it a “frontal fight against terrorism” which would make India feel “secure”.
(Abheet Singh Sethi is a Mumbai-based freelance writer and defence analyst. This article was originally published in IndiaSpend.)
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