Communication Curbs Add Fresh Challenge To Kashmir Counter-Insurgency Operations

In the first six months of this year, Indian security forces eliminated around 120 jihadists in Kashmir. Two dozen of them were killed in June alone, official data reveals. However, only two have been neutralized since August 5.

What has changed? Officials in the security establishment say restrictions on internet and mobile telephony services in the Valley have emerged as a fresh challenge as the counter-insurgency grid is striving to communicate with sources and keeping track of militant movements has become more difficult. There have been over six hundred cordons and search operations (CASO) in the hinterland recently, sources say, but only two have been successful. These two encounters took place in north Kashmir: one in the old town of Baramulla district and another in Sopore town of the same district.