In October 2021, the number of civilians killed in terrorism-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir recorded a sharp increase. Twelve civilians died in October, the highest for any month in the last two years and the fourth-highest since 2012.

After the relatively calm period of 2006-2012, Kashmir has been on the boil. The major inflection point was in 2016 when Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed. Two spells of lockdown — the first after J&K was stripped of its statehood and its special constitutional status and the second related to COVID-19 — had put a lid on new incidents. However, terror strikes seem to be increasing again now, and civilians, including those of the minority community, are getting targeted more.

Terrorism-related deaths

The charts depict the month-wise incidents of terrorism-related killings, fatalities among civilians, security forces and terrorists between 2012 and 2021. The number of civilians who died in October 2021 (twelve till October 26) was the fourth-highest for any month since 2012. Also, there were 25 incidents of killings in October 2021, again the fourth-highest for any month since 2012. An incident of killing is a terrorism-related event which results in at least one death.

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District-wise share of fatalities

The chart depicts each district’s share in terrorism-related fatalities every year in the 2000-2021 period. For instance, in 2021, 16% of all terrorism-related fatalities in J&K occurred in Pulwama.

In 2019, Pulwama’s share had peaked at 39%. Between 2000 and 2005, fatalities were concentrated in Baramulla and Kupwara of northern Kashmir, and in the Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts of Jammu. Between 2006 and 2016, fatalities were largely restricted to Baramulla and Kupwara. However, in the past five years, there has been an abrupt shift in deaths to the districts in south Kashmir – Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian. There has also been an uptick in fatalities in the Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu division, which had remained relatively calm for a long period.

Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal

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