No one willing to take up JeM leadership in the Valley: Army

Lt Gen K J S Dhillon Wednesday said after the Pulwama terror attack the security forces launched an offensive against the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in the valley, resulting in a situation where no one is willing to take up the leadership of the outfit.

"Forty-one militants were killed. Twenty-five of them belonged to JeM. Thirteen were foreign terrorists -- Pakistanis and category A plus and above," said Lt Gen Dhillon, at a joint press briefing accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh and Inspector general, CRPF, Zulfiqar Hassan at the police control room here.

"We targeted the JeM leadership and the situation now is such that there is no one willing to take up the leadership of the JeM in the valley. In spite of Pakistan's best efforts, we will continue to suppress the JeM," Lt Gen Dhillon, who is the Commander of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, said.

DGP Singh said 2018 and the year so far had been successful in containing militancy in the valley, barring stray incidents, including the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.

"This year, stone-pelting and law and order engagements reduced drastically. We did face some law and order situations during counter-insurgency operations, but those have been fewer than before," Singh said.

He said the recruitment of local youths into militancy has dipped. "That is a very healthy sign. There were very large-scale successes in counter-insurgency operations. Two-seventy-two terrorists were neutralised in 2018 and many were apprehended," he said, adding "we stopped a very big number of youths from joining the wrong path (militancy)."