In their intensified drive against militants in Jammu and Kashmir after withdrawal of ceasefire on May 23, police and security forces have gunned down 236 ultras in different operations in the state.

Of the killed militants, 138 fell to the bullets of security forces in the first fortnight of the current month and most of them were foreign mercenaries, an official spokesman said on Sunday.

He said this year, in all 678 militants had been killed in the state.
During 185 days of ceasefire announced by prime minister A B Vajpayee, militant causalities had gone down while those of civilians and security forces risen, the spokesman said.

In the last fortnight, out of the 138 militants killed in different operations in the state, 90 were eliminated in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, he said.
Similarly, the spokesman said operations were being intensified in Kupwara sector of north Kashmir where infiltration of large number of foreign mercenaries had been reported during ceasefire, he added. Bureau Report