Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Mohammad Asif, alias Hashim Moosa and Moosa Fauji, was killed in a joint security operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district on Wednesday, September 30. The operation was conducted by the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force in the Korag-Yousmarg area based on intelligence inputs. Security forces detected suspicious movement during a search operation, following which the suspected terrorists opened fire and an exchange took place.
The security forces continued searches in the area after the exchange and recovered Moosa’s body along with war-like stores from the general area of Palmaidan early Wednesday. According to the Union Home Ministry, security agencies had been tracking Moosa for an extended period using technical and human intelligence. The inputs regarding his movements and presence were used to coordinate the operation that led to his death.
Moosa was one of four senior Lashkar commanders who, according to the Home Ministry, had been active in Jammu and Kashmir since 2022 and were linked to several major terror attacks. The other three commanders were Junaid Bhat, Sulaiman and Yasir. Bhat was killed in an encounter in Dachigam in December 2024, Sulaiman was killed during Operation Mahadev in July 2025, and Yasir was killed during Operation Asdhar on September 4, 2026.
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According to security sources cited by the Home Ministry, Moosa was a trained former commando of Pakistan’s Special Service Group and had been sent to Jammu and Kashmir with other trained Lashkar terrorists. The group was trained to operate in forested terrain, including survival techniques and attacks designed to allow them to quickly withdraw after striking security forces. Moosa was described by the sources as the last surviving member of the group.
The Home Ministry said the four-member group was linked to attacks including those at Kandi in May 2023, Halan in August 2023, Dera Ki Gali in December 2023, Shahsitar in May 2024, Shiv Khori in June 2024, Gagangir and Bootapathri in October 2024, and Pahalgam in April 2025. Security agencies subsequently worked to identify the attackers, their contacts, logistical networks and movement patterns. The operation against Moosa was part of the broader effort to target the Lashkar network in the region.
The tracking operation, named Operation Sheruwali, began in May 2026, according to the Home Ministry. Security agencies monitored terrorist movements, hideouts and activities using intelligence from multiple sources before receiving inputs that led to the Budgam operation. The killing of Moosa completes, according to the Home Ministry, the elimination of the four senior Lashkar commanders who formed the group. Security forces continue to monitor other terrorist modules, infiltration routes, weapons and funding networks, logistics and recruitment channels in Jammu and Kashmir.
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