The terror-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir has come down to all-time low in recent years. According to official statistics, the union territory has witnessed a remarkable decline in counterinsurgency operations and terrorism related violence this year with a low number of terrorist kills as compared with last year. According to data, seven terrorists have been killed this year by security forces till March 12 of whom three were foreigners while in the same period last year, 31 terrorists were gunned down. Data suggests that there were only four encounters this year. The first gunfight was reported on January 8 when the Army shot dead two Pakistani terrorists near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu region. On January 17, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were shot dead by the police and the Army at a joint checkpoint. The duo had managed to escape an anti-militancy operation in Budgam district’s Redbugh area two days back. In February, the first encounter took place when the Army foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in Tangdhar sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara. In this operation on February 16, one terrorist was killed. Later on February 28, two terrorists and a soldier were killed during a 12-hour battle in Awantipora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. According to official data, 31 terrorists were killed in 15 encounters with security forces from January 1 to March 10 last year. Reports said that the decline in encounters was attributed to low local terror recruitment in Kashmir. According to reports, the number of active militants in Kashmir has fallen down to double digit who don’t have much support system. Officials said the terror recruitment is at its lowest in recent years while infiltration from across the border has also gone down. This comes amid a massive crackdown on terrorism and its ecosystem in Kashmir. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha recently said that those supporting the 'terror ecosystem' will face action while asserting that the police and security agencies will find out who is supporting terror and that the political affiliations of such supporters will not matter. Earlier, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said that 100 youth joined terrorism last year in Jammu and Kashmir but only 18 are active while others have either been killed in encounters or arrested. “The remaining 18 terrorists will be neutralized soon,” he said. This suggests that peace has started taking roots and the time is not far when J&K will be one of the most prosperous regions in the country.