2020 recorded lowest insurgency incidents during last two decades in NE: MHA

Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday said that 2020 recorded lowest number of insurgency incidents, as well as casualties both among civilians and armed forces, in the last two decades across the North-Eastern region.

New Delhi: Weeks after repealing the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA) from several places in the Northeastern States, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said that 2020 recorded the lowest insurgency incidents and casualties among the civilians and security forces during the last two decades in the region. "Compared to 2014, there has been an 80 per cent reduction in insurgency incidents in 2020," the MHA said in its latest annual report 2020-21.

Similarly, in this period, casualties of security forces have also come down by 75 per cent and civilian deaths by 99 per cent. "The year 2020 saw a decline of about 27 per cent in insurgency incidents (2019 - 223, 2020 - 162) and 72 per cent in casualties of civilians and SFs personnel (2019 - 25, 2020 - 07) compared to 2019," the MHA said.

Counter-insurgency operations led to neutralization of 21 insurgents, arrest of 646 insurgents, and recovery of 305 weapons in 2020 in the region. A total of 2,644 cadres of insurgent outfits of NE States surrendered their arms in 2020 and joined the mainstream society. While the States of Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura remained by and large peaceful, there is a marked improvement in the security situation in other States of the region.

In 2020, insurgency-related violence declined by 42 percent in Arunachal Pradesh, 12 percent in Assam, 23 percent in Manipur and 45 percent in Nagaland compared to 2019, the MHA said in its report.