Awantipora: The back of armed militancy in Kashmir is virtually broken, and now a great deal of “political sagacity” is needed to ensure that a lasting solution to the decades-long separatist problem is found, the army commander of the key South Kashmir area has said.

“There is no semblance of any space where militants or separatists are in control. Militants are in self-preservation mode,” Maj. Gen. B S Raju, the head of Victor Force that performs counter-insurgency operations in five districts of South Kashmir, told PTI in an interview yesterday.

He said his focus now is on ensuring that there are no new recruitment into the militant cadres and reaching out to the people to convince them that the army is there to help, for which his troops have already embarked on a series of projects in schools and colleges.

“Overall, most people want a solution. They want to get out of this cycle of violence,” said Raju, the general officer commanding of Victor Force, based in Awantipora, about 33 km south of Srinagar.