SRINAGAR, Nov 3: India has said insurgency-related killings in (held) Kashmir have fallen by nearly 30 per cent from a year ago.

“The level of violence has been brought down as compared to previous year,” army chief Gen J.J. Singh told reporters on Friday in Srinagar.

“Combat-related casualties (of the army) have also come down substantially,” he said.

The army chief gave no figures but an Indian government statement reported a drop of 29 per cent in insurgency-related killings during the first year in power of Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Azad took over the reins of Kashmir on November 2, 2005.

“There has been a decline of over 19 per cent in overall acts of violence and a 29 per cent drop in the killings between November 2005 and October 2006,” the statement said.

The insurgency has claimed over 44,000 lives by official count.

Due to lessening violence, the “state administration is also in a better position to deliver the goods to meet the aspirations of the people,” the army chief added. —-AFP