Picture for representation.
Security forces have been able to eliminate 202 terrorists in less than 11 months in 2017 with top government sources pointing to the "complete synergy" between the Army, police and paramilitary for the stunning achievement.
Officials said government troops over the past year have been working in close tandem and the credit game has been eliminated among them as no one claims brownie points for the jihadis killed in and the forces hold joint press conferences.
This year, the combined troops of the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF have been able to kill 202 terrorist of different groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. The list includes 25 top commanders of these groups, government security sources said.
Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat, Jammu and Kashmir's director general of police SP Vaid and CRPF top brass was credited by the sources for the co-actions of the troops with intelligence agencies providing specific inputs for pinpoint operations.
Sources said the turning point in the success story has been the deep involvement of local police as like the Punjab militancy where the cops were the biggest factor in finishing terrorism.
"There is no better counter-insurgency force than the local police as they know the place like the back of their hand and since they have been attacked and are now hitting the terrorists hard, we see that forces are achieving great success," the sources said.
They added that in 2017, the number of attacks being carried out by the terrorists on the security forces has come down drastically since the troops are now going out for search and destroy operations as could been seen from the recent mission of the army and IAF special forces, Garud, in the Hajin area of Bandipora district where they went to terrorists' hideout and killed them.
The operation took place on Saturday in which one Garud commando, Corporal JP Nirala, lost his life and six terrorists from Pakistan were eliminated by the troops.
On a recent decision by the government to hold parleys with all stakeholders in to resolve the crisis, the sources said the intention is to provide an option to the locals to discuss their issues with the Centre and find solutions.
They said government's interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma would be interacting with all sections of society in Kashmir and will convey the aspirations of the people of the state to the government.
On the situation in the state, the sources said the separatists and their sympathisers may be coming out on social media or TV to show opposition, but the masses are with the country. "The success of the security forces' operations shows that," they said.
The officials said despite the ongoing dialogue process, the Centre would ensure that the pressure on terrorists would continue and they have been clearly told to maintain the tempo of their actions.
About the role of Pakistan in J&K, the sources said infiltration attempts were at an all-time high with 291 bids by jihadis to sneak in along the LoC till September 30 against the 165 attempts in the corresponding period last year.
"The push from Pakistan is far greater than ever as they are getting frustrated in their attempts to change the atmosphere in the Valley which was visited by around 12 lakh domestic tourists this year," they said.
Sources said the Pakistanis are now trying to undertake targeted killings of celebrities and important personalities in the country like they did in case of RSS leader Brigadier (retd) Jagdish Gagneja, who was killed in Punjab this year where money was paid through the Dubai-Mumbai route to gangsters.