Srinagar/New Delhi: The youth joining the terror ranks in Jammu and Kashmir have a "short shelf life" with more than 64 per cent of them being killed by security forces within a year, officials said on Sunday.
Security forces, aided by a strong on-ground intelligence network, have scaled up anti-terror operations in the first five months of this year, though frequent violence in south Kashmir remained a cause for concern, they said.
Citing data of terrorists neutralised between January 1 and May 31 this year, the officials said 64.1 per cent of the new terror recruits were eliminated within a year. Only 26.6 per cent of the terror recruits lasted more than 12 months, while the fate of 9.3 per cent of them was not known, they said.
Giving further details, the officials said 28.1 per cent of the terror recruits were killed within one month, 54.7 per cent within six months and 59.4 per cent within nine months.
The officials said 70 to 75 youths have joined various terror groups in Kashmir Valley in the first five months of this year. The corresponding figure of last year was near equal.
They said south Kashmir continued to be the hotbed of terrorism in the valley as the region saw 59 terrorist killings by security forces in the first five months of this year compared to 31 such killings in central and north Kashmir.