SRINAGAR: Indian forces have killed 62 fighters, including 15 foreigners, in occupied Kashmir this year, a police official said on Sunday.

Vijay Kumar, the occupied state’s police chief, said some of the fighters killed this year had links with Lashkar-e-Taiba.

A hallmark of the group is to conduct “fedayeen” attacks where men are willing to fight to the death, but are not suicide bombers.

Kumar said 15 fighters linked with the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which took responsibility for one of the deadliest attacks on Indian forces in 2019, were among those killed in a series of operations.

“The surviving rate of militants has drastically decreased due to enhanced human, technical intelligence and focused operations,” Vijay Kumar said.

Members of Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the largest anti-Indian Kashmiri groups, were also among those killed.

According to the police chief, 193 militants were killed last year and 232 in 2020.

Rights groups say arbitrary detentions and killings by Indian troops are leading to a range of human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew occupied Kashmir’s autonomy in 2019 in order to tighten his grip over the territory. The decision, the most far-reaching political move in one of the world’s most militarised regions in nearly seven decades, polarised opinion, with Kashmiri leaders calling it aggression against the held state’s people.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2022