Insurgency down by 80 pc in NE : MHA

Guwahati, Apr 28
Insurgency activities in the North Eastern region have been reduced to 80 percent in the last eight years while casualties of security forces have come down by 75 percent, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in its annual report 2020-21.
As per the report, the civilian deaths due to insurgency activities too have come down by 99 percent. The report also claimed that the security situation in the North Eastern States has improved substantially since 2014 and the year 2020 recorded the lowest insurgency incidents and casualties among the civilians and security forces during the last two decades.
"There has been an 80 percent reduction in militancy incidents in 2020 as compared to 2014. Similarly, there has been a reduction of 75 percent in the casualties of security forces and 99 percent in the casualties of civilians during this period,'' the report said. The report also said that the year 2020 witnessed a decline of about 27 percent in insurgency incidents. As per the report, there were 223 incidents reported in 2019 and 162 in 2020.
Compared to 2019, which saw 25 casualties of civilians and security forces personnel, the year 2020 witnessed just 7 casualties 2020. The report further said that counter-insurgency operations led to the neutralization of 21 insurgents, arrest of 646 insurgents, and recovery of 305 weapons in 2020 in the region. ''Around 2,644 cadres of insurgent groups of insurgent groups of the North Eastern States surrendered their arms in 2020 and joined the mainstream,'' the report claimed.
As per the report, there is an improvement in the security situation in other States of the region. Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura remained peaceful. In 2020, militancy-related violence declined by 42 percent in Arunachal Pradesh, 12 percent in Assam, 23 percent in Manipur, and 45 percent in Nagaland as compared to 2019, the report said.
Sentinel Assam