SRINAGAR: A top Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer on Friday claimed there are 200 militants active in Kashmir and that the paramilitary force was capable to combat them.
"Both local and foreigner militants fighting security forces in Kashmir are nearly 200 odd in number and are scattered all across,'' CRPF additional director general (ADG) Surendra Kumar Bhagat told reporters here.
He called reports of radicalization of youth in the Valley "worrisome". He added there is no particular community, which could get lured towards the violence.
Bhagat said the youth, who are reportedly getting radicalized, possibly would not be from any particular sect or religion.
"It is not necessary that the radicals would be Islamic only but there may be Hindu radicals or Jewish radicals also," he said.
He called radicalization a challenge for the state government in every aspect including development, education, better facilities and meeting aspirations. "The more it is able to do so, the better the situation shall be.''
Bhagat said over 600 Kashmiri youth recruited by the CRPF would be posted across the Valley.
