What explains the spurt in militant violence in Jammu and Kashmir?

In the early hours of November 2, a fierce gunfight broke out between security forces and a Pakistani militant in a dense locality in Srinagar.

The day-long encounter in Khanyar eventually ended with the killing of the foreign militant who was identified by police as a commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.

This was the first gunfight in Srinagar city in over two years. The same day, another encounter broke out in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, in which two militants were killed.

The swearing-in of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir has been accompanied by a worrying uptick in violence.

At least 11 civilians, including six migrant workers, have been killed in multiple attacks by militants in Kashmir Valley in the weeks after the Omar Abdullah government took office.

Significantly, while experts had flagged a shift of militancy from to the Jammu region in the last 12 months, this round of violence appears to be focussed on the Kashmir Valley.

The deadliest attack came on October 20 when militants attacked a tunnel construction site in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, killing seven civilians, including a local doctor, working at the site.

While Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have sought to draw a link between the renewed violence and the new government, National Conference leaders have questioned...

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