‘New wave’: Why suspected rebel attacks are rising in Kashmir’s Jammu area

For decades, Jammu has been relatively peaceful, even amid clashes in other parts of Indian-administered Kashmir. Not anymore.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told parliament last month that the armed rebellion in Indian-administered Kashmir was in its final stages due to his government’s “multipronged” strategy, implemented since his government scrapped the region’s special status five years ago.

Three days later, on July 6, two Indian Army personnel and four suspected rebels were killed in two separate gunfights in the disputed region’s Kulgam district, raising questions about Modi’s claim.

Then, on July 8, suspected rebels ambushed an army vehicle and killed five soldiers in Kathua, a district located in the region’s Jammu division towards the south.

A week later, four more Indian soldiers, including an army officer, were killed in another gunfight with suspected rebels in the forests of Jammu’s Doda district.

Last week, the army said it thwarted a major attack in Jammu’s Rajouri district when a soldier was injured in the predawn attack by suspected rebels at an army camp. Following the attack, a search operation was launched in which one suspected rebel was killed.

And on Saturday, one Indian soldier was killed and another wounded after the army said it foiled an infiltration bid in Kupwara in the north, a district along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing India and Pakistan, who rule over parts of Kashmir but claim it in full.

The Indian Army in a statement said a “Pakistani intruder” was also killed in Saturday’s gunfight and two Indian soldiers were wounded.

While there has been an uptick in attacks by suspected rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir in recent months, the theatre of