Kashmiri women pray as a head priest (unseen) displays the holy relic believed to be the hair from the beard of Prophet Mohammad, at the Hazratbal Shrine on the outskirts of Srinagar, July 8, 2011. — Photo by AFP

SRINAGAR: The number of violent incidents in Indian-administered Kashmir fell below 100 in the first half of the year, the lowest level since the start of an insurgency more than 20 years ago, according to police.

Official records showed that the number of incidents in the first half of 2011 fell by 50 per cent to 97 compared with last year's figure of 196.

Seventy-nine people were killed in violence between January 1 and June 30 — 42 militants, 12 Indian security personnel and 25 civilians, a police officer told AFP.

At the peak of the unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir in 1996, 13 people were dying on average per day. In 2001, about 10 a day were killed on average.

A total of 375 insurgency-related deaths were recorded in 2010, the same as 2009, when the figures were the lowest for any single year since the start of the insurgency against Indian rule in the Himalayan region in 1989.

The figures for 2010 do not include the estimated 117 fatalities during a summer of public protests against Indian rule, with most deaths caused by security forces firing live ammunition on demonstrators.