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In what comes as a direct effect of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has increased manifold and is now, in fact, better than ever.

Violence has decreased in the valley after August 5, 2019, when the clause was withdrawn from the constitution, thereby revoking the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

In these past 11 months, there have been major successes against terror rackets in the valley.

According to a report by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, incidents of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir have declined by about 36%. There has been a reduction of more than 40 percent in Kashmiri youths joining terrorist groups in the last year mainly after the abolition of Article 370 by the Modi government.

The number of youths who joining terrorist groups fell to 67 between January 1 and July 15 this year, compared to 105 a year ago, while terror incidents also reduced from 188 to 120 during this period.

The Home Minister had informed that 22 civilians were killed after the removal of special status from January to mid-July. He had also informed Parliament last year that more than 41,000 people including locals and security personnel were killed due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Out of 136 militants killed this year, 110 were locals and the rest had crossed the LoC from Pakistan. There have been fewer improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and grenade attacks this year. The number of IED attacks this year was 21, less than 51 in 2019, while one IED attack has been reported this year, as compared to six in the year-ago period.

Infiltration attempts along the Line of Control (LoC), however, remain high as Pakistan-based terrorist groups continue to try to send more militants in the Valley. The lull in militant activities could be partially due to lockdown measures announced by the Union government in March this year due to Covid-19 pandemic. As many as 136 militants were gunned down in the past seven months, higher than 126 a year ago, officials said citing the data.

Meanwhile, 35 security forces personnel have been martyred in the line of duty since January 1 compared to 75 in the year-ago period. Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), which is believed to have the largest presence in the region, has suffered highest casualties of more than 50 terrorists including its commander Riyaz Naikoo. The Hizbul commander was killed in an encounter with security forces in May this year.

Other militants killed in the Valley were from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, Islamic State of J&K, Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind and the newly formed TRF, the data showed.