Lashkar's top Pakistani terrorist Moosa killed in Budgam forests

Srinagar, Sept 30 (UNI) Security forces shot dead a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa, in an encounter in the upper reaches of Yousmarg in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district, officials said.

Moosa had allegedly escaped during an encounter in Budgam earlier this month and was subsequently tracked by security forces in the mountainous forests of central Kashmir after an extensive search, according to security sources. The encounter broke out on Wednesday evening in the Korag area of Yousmarg after the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF launched a joint search operation based on specific intelligence inputs.

"Vigilant troops observed suspicious activity and, upon being challenged, terrorists opened fire, prompting a fierce exchange of gunfire during which one terrorist was neutralised. Operation is in progress," the Army's Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said in a post on X. In a subsequent update, the Army said that during a search operation in the Palmaidan area early Thursday, the body of a Pakistan-based LeT terrorist, identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa, was recovered along with war-like stores.

Security officials said Moosa had managed to escape during the September 4 encounter in the high-altitude Ashdar Gali area of Budgam, where his associate and another Pakistani LeT terrorist, Yasir, was killed. According to the officials, Yasir and Moosa were crossing from the Poonch region into Kashmir when they were intercepted by security forces, triggering an exchange of fire in which Yasir was killed, while Moosa managed to flee. Security officials said Yasir and Moosa had been operating together in the dense forest areas of central Kashmir and the Pir Panjal region since 2024.

Moosa was the only remaining active member of the LeT group allegedly linked to a series of deadly attacks in Jammu and Kashmir regions. The group had earlier operated in the Pir Panjal region before shifting its base towards the Kashmir Valley and splitting into two groups in 2024, the sources said. Yasir, who was killed earlier this month, was described by security sources as a key associate of senior LeT commander Sulaiman Shah, who was killed along with two other terrorists in an operation in the forests on the outskirts of Srinagar in July 2025.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah subsequently told the Lok Sabha that the three terrorists killed in that operation were involved in the Pahalgam attack, in which 25 tourists and a local resident were killed. Security sources said Yasir, Moosa, Sulaiman Shah and other members of the group were also allegedly involved in attacks in the Jammu region, including the Dera Ki Gali ambush in Poonch, in which four soldiers were killed, and an attack on an Indian Air Force convoy.

Yasir and Moosa were also suspected of involvement in the Butapathri attack near Gulmarg in 2024, in which two soldiers and two civilian porters were killed, the sources said. With Yasir killed earlier this month and Moosa now dead, security sources said the two had been among the last active members of the group operating in the high-altitude forests linking central Kashmir with the Pir Panjal region. Following the September 4 encounter, security forces intensified searches across the mountainous terrain to track the movement of the remaining militant.

Officials said additional forces, including Army Special Forces personnel, were subsequently deployed in high-altitude areas following technical inputs indicating the presence of another terrorist in the region.

UNI MJR ARN