In 2021, Jammu Witnessed Upsurge in Overall Violence Than Kashmir: Report

“Jammu recorded higher recoveries of weapons, more attacks on government forces, and more killings and arrests of militants.”

SRINAGAR — In the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu region has seen an upsurge in overall violence last year, compared to the previous year. A decline in militant incidents was reported from Kashmir during the same period, New Indian Express reported.

Quoting the Ministry of Home Affairs data, the report said that Jammu recorded higher recoveries of weapons, more attacks on government forces, and more killings and arrests of militants.

Some officials, the report said, attributed the increase in such incidents and arms hauls to the desperation of militant networks to open up new routes of infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir, as the security grid had been bolstered in the Valley following the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot last year.

Some other officials and security experts said increased vigilance along the border and active anti-drone operations had resulted in a higher number of seizure of arms and also helped in busting militant hideouts. 

As per data, casualties of government forces in Jammu had gone up by as much as 4.6 times, with 14 personnel killed in 2021, compared to just three the previous year. The recovery of IEDs in Jammu had gone up in 2021 by three times, twice as many militants were arrested last year (47), compared to 2020 (23), recovery of RDX had gone up by 1.6 times, and twice as many wireless sets were recovered from militants in 2021.

A senior intelligence official told New Indian Express that this rise in activities in Jammu could be attributed to militant operatives trying to explore new routes to infiltrate, with forces foiling repeated bids to push in arms and cadre into the valley. “Poonch and Krishna sectors, both in Jammu region, emerged as the most preferred sectors for infiltration in the last three months of 2021 due to harsh winter and snowfall. This is one of the major factors for more terror incidents in Jammu last year,” he said.