Sharp rise in militant deaths in 2016

New Delhi: The number of alleged militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir till November this year has exceeded the combined total of the past three years, the Union home ministry informed the Lok Sabha. In response to a written question, junior home minister Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said the number of such terrorists killed till November 27 this year was 140. The corresponding figure was 38, 52 and 46 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. The number of attacks has also shot up, rising from 208 in 2015 to 305 till November this year. Seventy-one security personnel were killed compared to 39 last year - an increase of over 82 per cent. There has also been a 100 per cent increase in injuries suffered by security forces - 208 this year compared to last year's 103. However, there has been a marginal decline in the number of civilians killed, from 17 last year to 14 this year. According to minister Ahir, Pakistan had violated ceasefire 437 times along the LoC and the International Border in the state till November this year. Thirty-seven people were killed and 179 injured. He said 27,449 people living along the border in the state had to be shifted to safer places because of the ceasefire violations following the surgical strikes in September.