New Delhi, March 2: A total of 157 terrorists were killed and 138 infiltration cases were reported in the year 2019, the Ministry of Defence informed the Parliament on Monday. The written reply to the Lok Sabha was submitted by Minister of State (MoS) for Defence, Shripad Naik. The death toll of insurgents, he said, was recorded in operations conducted by all wings of security forces in the frontier state. Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane Slams Pakistan, Says 'India Reserves the Right to Pre-Emptively Strike at Sources of Terror Threat'.

"Due to concerted and synergised efforts of security forces, 157 terrorists were neutralised in the year 2019 in Jammu & Kashmir," he said. "In 2019, there have been 138 cases of infiltration by terrorists along Line of Control and International Border," the Minister further added.

Update by ANI

The number of militants killed in 2019 is down as compared to the previous year. In 2018, the security forces had neutralised a total of 254 insurgents in the Valley. The numbers, last year, slipped drastically last year after the abrogation of Article 370. With the special status of J&K revoked, officials said that the operational space for militants was acutely shrinked.

Militancy in J&K thrives primarily on the activities of three insurgent groups - the homegrown Hizbul Mujahideen and the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. On January 20, J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said the Hizbul Mujahideen is on the verge of "complete wipeout" from the Valley.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2020 04:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).