SRINAGAR: Occupied Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti onTuesday admitted that the number of local Kashmiri youngsters joiningfreedom struggle is steadily going up.

In a written reply in the state assembly, she said that 126 local menjoined freedom struggle in 2017.

“The number of youth who joined struggle in 2017 is 126, while in 2016 thenumber was 88 and in 2015, it was 66,” she stated.

Mehbooba had earlier vowed to break the “vicious cycle” of youth taking uparms on the death of a terrorist in the Valley. She had also said that hergovernment is making efforts to ensure that those joining militants ranksreturn home.

In her reply to the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address in the stateAssembly in Jammu in January this year, she had said thatJaish-e-Mohammad’s “Afzal Guru squad” that has claimed responsibility formajor terror attacks in the Valley “is a challenge for not only thegovernment but for all of us”.

As one of the steps to tackle home-grown militancy, Mehbooba had alsostated that her government had announced an amnesty to stone-pelters bywithdrawing FIRs registered against them. “About 8,000 to 9,000 youth, Idon’t have the exact figures, will be benefited by the withdrawal of FIRs.

We have started the process in 2016 but had to stop it due to the unrest(triggered by the killing of Burhan Wani),” she had said.