During the first three months of 2019 at least 162 people including civilians, security forces and militants were killed in various incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, according to a report released by local-rights group, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).
With 586 killings recorded, 2018 was the deadliest year for the state in a decade. In comparison to the first three months of 2018, which witnessed 119 killings, the reports reveals that the number of killings have significantly increased in the first three months of 2019.
In January – 2 civilians, 17 militants
Following the Pulwama suicide attack, five separate gun battles between militants and security forces resulted in the death of 12 militants – mostly of Jaish-e- Muhammad (JeM) – and 12 security forces personnel. In one more separate incident, while defusing an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), an army major lost his life in Rajouri on February 17.
The list of civilian killings compiled by JKCCS mentions the two civilians were killed by security forces following encounters with militants, and one 28-year-old youth was killed due to the torture inflicted on him by government forces during his detention at Cargo, an infamous torture centre in Srinagar.
“The killing of civilians accused of being army informers by armed gunmen points to the ways the unresolved conflict in Jammu and Kashmir is inevitably endangering the lives of the civilian population,” the report says. “Among the 21 civilian casualties, three were minors including twelve-year-old Atif Mir, who was first held hostage by militants at his house in Hajan Bandipora and later was killed when armed forces blasted the very house where he was held
“The 89 CASO’s have resulted in the killing of at least 58 militants, three civilians and destruction of at least 18 civilian properties including 15 residential houses and 3 cowsheds. A majority of these CASO’s were conducted in four south Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag and Kulgam,” says the report.