As local recruitment into militancy is gradually decreasing, terror handlers across the border are relying more on sending battle-hardened foreign mercenaries to keep the pot boiling in Kashmir.
According to the figures from the Army, the ratio of local and foreign militants operating in Kashmir at the moment is almost 50:50. Out of 156 militants active in Kashmir valley, 79 are locals while 77 are foreigners, predominantly Pakistanis, a defence spokesman said quoting the data released by Army's Northern Command.
The Army maintains that from January to March 2022 a total of 15 locals joined the militancy. However, sources said, the number could be higher as, despite the killing of 41 militants in the same period, the number of active ultras has remained almost the same as it was on December 31, 2021.
On December 31, Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar had said that 159 militants, including 73 foreigners, were active in Kashmir. Out of 41 militants killed in the first three months of this year, 11 were foreigners.
Sources said Pakistani spy agency ISI is now placing its reliance on further operations in Kashmir predominantly on foreign militants. “The ISI’s USP (unique selling point) is that Islam was in danger in India, in general, and in Kashmir, in particular. The mercenaries from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir are hired, trained, and inducted into the Kashmir Valley,” they said.
“In addition, criminals undergoing long imprisonment sentences in Pakistani jails are also enticed into participating in the so-called jihad. They are told that their sentences would be reprieved if they successfully completed the tenure of ISI ordained duty in J&K,” sources revealed.
Gradually, the presence of foreign militants is going up in Kashmir. In 2021, in 87 encounters, 168 militants were killed by the security forces in Kashmir. Among them, only 19 were foreigners, while 149 were locals.
According to official figures, 53 locals joined militancy in 2014 and a year later the number went up to 65. The graph of locals joining militancy kept an upward trend with 88 joining in 2016, 126 in 2017, 218 in 2018, 126 in 2019, and 167 in 2020.
According to police records, in 2021, out of 128 locals who joined militancy, 73 were killed and 17 arrested.
“After 2018, the trend of locals joining militancy is on the decline. Abrogation of J&K’s special status under Article 370 in August 2019 prompted terror groups in Kashmir to change their tactics, including recruiting hybrid militants who are difficult to identify,” a senior police officer told DH.
A hybrid militant is an unlisted member of a militant group who receives training in small weapons with the objective of carrying out targeted killings.
“Apart from sending foreign terrorists, Pakistan is now relying more on hybrid militants, who are locals. The hybrid militants carry out attacks on civilians, unarmed policemen, and sometimes on security forces in the direction of foreign terrorists. This way the control of the Kashmir militancy remains directly in the hands of the ISI,” he revealed.