Srinagar
For the first time in more than a decade, the militant groups present in the Kashmir valley have proliferated to seven and include two formerly defunct Islamist organisations whose members were killed by security forces this year.

The significant increase in the number of militant organisations has coincided with a rise in number of readily-available recruits.
According to police sources, the 200 militants killed in the year so far were affiliated to at least seven militant organisations two of which had gone defunct and two new additions.

The Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba the two groups which have anchored militancy since their formation in the 1990s continue to dominate. However, the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which had remained defunct for more than a decade, has made a gradual and serious comeback since 2013.

The sources said the Lashkar-e-Toiba accounted for the highest militant casualties this year with 53 of its men being killed by the security forces, the Hizbul Mujahideen stood second with 49 deaths.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad, which widened its spread inside Kashmir valley for the first time in the last decade, accounted for 32 militant casualties.

The two formerly defunct militant groups, which made a comeback this year, include Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen that lost six of its men and Al-Badr which lost two of its cadre, the sources said.

The two new militant groups Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and Islamic State J&K have also emerged since last year and also suffered casualties in counter-insurgency operations this year.

Ansar, which lost nine militants, including former Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Abu Dujana, last year saw deaths of its three militants, including top commander Abu Hamas. Islamic State J&K lost eight of its militants this year.