Locals Make Up At Least 60% of India's Jammu And Kashmir Extremist Groups

According to the Times of India newspaper, the ratio of local extremists and foreign mercenaries stands at 60:40 today, the opposite of five years ago.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – As many as 60 percent of the militant extremists in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state have been recruited locally, local media reported Monday citing the police.

"There has definitely been a rise in local recruitment since last year," Mujtaba Gilani, Inspector General of Police, told the newspaper, adding that Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba extremist groups are attracting local youth in greater numbers.

The Jammu and Kashmir region has been disputed by India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Following several armed conflicts, the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in 2003. Since then, both sides have blamed each other for repeatedly violating the truce.