Amarnath Yatra records lowest militant incidents in Jammu & Kashmir this year

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, (PTK): As the Amarnath Yatra inches towards conclusion, security forces have found a reason to celebrate as militant incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have touched a record low this year during the ongoing pilgrimage.

With the pilgrimage having already recorded a footfall of 2.9 lakh pilgrims, security forces of the Indian Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have clamped down on terrorism in the Valley with the state recording just two terror incidents since the beginning of the Yatra on 1 July.

This statistic, accessed by Mint, is in sharp contrast to the previous two years. In 2018, the Centre recorded 100 terror incidents in which 35 militants and 8 civilians were killed, while in 2017, there were 36 incidents in which 44 terrorists and 10 civilians were killed during the Amarnath Yatra.

While both these incidents remained confined to two militants being gunned down during cordon and search operations (CASO) in south Kashmir, forces said that the situation had improved dramatically over the last two months after Union home minister Amit Shah took charge.