Srinagar: Local youths joining militant groups in the Kashmir Valley this
year stood at 110 till July 15, with the worst terror-hit district of
Shopian in south Kashmir accounting for the maximum of 28 recruits,
officials said.
The number of locals recruited was 126 last year and officials said they
expected the figure to be higher this year.
Reports of missing people have come down after Governor’s rule was
imposed in the state last month, they said, but added that some youths
continue to join terror ranks.
Security agency officials said highly volatile south Kashmir, comprising
Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts, besides Awantipora,
remained a region accounting for a higher number of youths joining
militant groups, including the ISIS-Kashmir and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-
Hind, an outfit which claims support of the al-Qaida.
From these five areas, 91 youths joined various terror groups operating
in the Valley, they said.
The disappearance and subsequent joining of terror ranks by Ganderbal
youth Rouf, who was in his fourth semester of a diploma course at a
government polytechnic institute, was confirmed after his picture was
seen on social media in military fatigues, the officials said.
If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of
number of youths joining various terror groups, according to the
officials. Last year, a total of 126 youths had picked up the gun. It was
the highest number since 2010, according to a recent data presented in
the state Assembly and Parliament.
There has been a steady rise in the number of youths taking up arms in
the Valley since 2014 as compared to the period from 2010 to 2013
when the figures stood at 54, 23, 21 and 6 respectively.
In 2014, the number shot up to 53 and in 2015, it reached 66 while in
2016, the figure was 88, the data showed.
This year, youths who joined terrorist groups included Junaid Ashraf
Sehrai, 26, an MBA degree holder from Kashmir University, and son of
Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, who took over as chairman of the Tehrek-e-
Hurriyat from Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Teherik-e-Hurriyat is a pro-
Pakistan amalgam of separatist groups.
The list also included 26-year-old PhD scholar Mannan Bashir Wani,
hailing from Kupwara, the officials said. Wani was studying in Aligarh
Muslim University.
They said infiltration was on the rise and some of the terrorists had
managed to sneak into the Valley from across the border in Poonch and
Rajouri districts of the Jammu region as well as through the LoC in
Kashmir.
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