New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS): The terrorists strength in Jammu and Kashmir is now below 200, the security forces said on the first anniversary of abrogation of Articles 370 on Wednesday.

Local recruitment has decreased significantly and now it is primarily limited to four districts of South Kashmir, said a senior intelligence officer adding that there has been serious blow to nefarious designs of Pakistan to 'indigenise' the movement and fuel unrest in the Valley.

The security situation in the Valley has witnessed progressive improvement since Abrogation of Article 370, said the officer.

The officer pointed out that on one hand the tempo of kinetic operations in the hinterland ensured denial of operational space to terrorist tanzeems, at the same time, high level of alertness by troops along the Line of Control ensured Pakistan's endeavours to infiltrate terrorists into the Valley were blunted.

In the hinterland, Pakistan-backed terrorists are resorting to targeting innocent civilians with an aim to coerce them into following their Azadi narrative.

But domination of hinterland by security forces had a crippling effect on the terrorist tanzeems and resultantly their ability to undertake terror incidents was degraded.

This year, only 70 terror-related minor incidents have been reported as compared to 107 in the same period last year. "In addition, six attempts of IED blast were foiled in the current year as a result of pro-activeness," said a senior government officer in North Block.

"Our aim has been to provide a secure environment to the Awaam which has been suffering for the last three decades due to violence," said the officer. The reduction of the number of terrorists and crippling of their networks is providing that opportunity to the Awaam and we have witnessed reduction in protests significantly as compared to 2018-19.

"Attempts of inimical elements to mislead people by running disinformation campaigns were also defeated by proactively monitoring the situation and engaging with the local population, said the officer.

Robust operations in the kinetic domain and proactive measures in the non-kinetic domain have ensured maintenance of peace and normal civic life in the Valley.

There is a high level of synergy while conducting operations. "Our jawans and commanders are operating relentlessly battling the dual challenges of Pakistan abetting terror and the global pandemic," the officer said.

Synergised conduct of hard intelligence based counter terror operations resulted in significant successes in the past one year.

Terror attempts defeated:

This year alone 136 hard core terrorists have been neutralized (till July 28) by the security forces in hinterland which include 14 Pakistani terrorists and senior leaders of Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Attempts to spread the violence to the Doda region was also defeated by proactively neutralizing the terrorists. Since August 2019, seven terrorists have been killed in Doda and Kishtwar.

Along the Line of Control, Indian troops ensured that Pakistan's design of infiltrating more terrorists or smuggle weapons was defeated.

The counter infiltration grid has been strengthened North of Pir Panjal Ranges. "Message to Pakistan was also very clear with reference to non-tolerance of support to terror activities," the officer said.

The officer also stated that it was unfortunate that when the world is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan has resorted to firing heavy calibre artillery and killing of innocent Kashmiris to garner international attention.

High infiltration attempts:

Infiltration attempts are still very high indicating complicity of the Pakistan Army and nefarious designs. Intelligence reports suggest that all launch pads across the Line of Control are active.

"Our armed forces will give proportionate response to all acts of infringement of Ceasefire and his support to terrorism. The onus remains with Pakistan to bring peace in the region. Unless Pakistan gives up its policy of state sponsored terrorism, we will continue to respond with impunity and precision," said a senior Defence Ministry officer.

This year 2,662 instances of ceasefire violation by Pakistan were reported till July 30.

Pakistan's efforts towards projecting 'genocide in Kashmir Valley' in the eyes of comity of nations and concomitantly fuel unrest in the Valley have not been successful so far.

Local residents have given a very clear signal of desire to lead peaceful lives. A fresh impetus from Pakistan to disrupt peace in the Valley and bring international attention to Jammu and Kashmir is likely. "Own troops remain prepared to deal with all such misadventures by Pakistan," the defence ministry officer stated.

The people of the Valley must see through the duplicity of Pakistani motive based on lies and deceit.