About 600-700 foreign mercenaries, mainly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, are operating in the areas south of Pir Panjal in J&K which have witnessed a steep rise in terrorist killings recently, official sources said here today.

The mercenaries constitute about 70 per cent or the total number of terrorists in the area ... The mercenaries mainly belong to Lashkar-e-Toiba, Harkat-ul-Jehad-i-Islami and Hizbul Mujahideen ..

The sources said ... that about 72 terrorist training camps were operating in Pakistan including  Pak occupied Kashmir (PoK) ... The induction of foreign mercenaries into Kashmir had added a new and dangerous dimension to the terrorist movement in the state. "They are battle hardened men, well trained for any encounter. That is why we have to pay a heavy price sometimes".

The sources said the mercenaries mainly comprised criminals who were sent to J&K on a one or two-year contract and a payment of about Rs. two lakhs. Also, some of them who were facing jail terms for various offences in Pakistan, are promised amnesty if they went on a two year "stint" to J&K. "They are well armed with sophisticated ammunition ... It is now no longer a home grown insurgency ... ", the official said.