Budgam, Sept 30: A Pakistani militant and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander was killed in an encounter with security forces in the upper reaches of Yousmarg in central Kashmir, the Army said on Wednesday.
The slain militant was identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa, a Pakistan-based LeT commander who, according to security officials, was linked to a group involved in several attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
The operation was launched late Tuesday night after joint forces began a search operation in the Korag area of Yousmarg.
“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 said in a statement.
The Army said on Wednesday morning that the body of Moosa was recovered during a search operation carried out in the area early in the day. War-like stores were also recovered from the site, it said.
Officials said Moosa was an associate of Yasir, another militant who was killed earlier in an operation in the same forest area. According to the officials, both were part of a militant group suspected of carrying out several attacks in the Jammu region.
The group was linked to the Dera Ki Gali ambush in Poonch, in which four Army personnel were killed, as well as an attack on an Indian Air Force convoy, officials said.
Moosa and Yasir were also identified as associates of senior LeT commander Sulaiman Shah, who was killed along with two other militants during an operation in the forests on the outskirts of Srinagar in July 2025.
With Moosa’s killing, the entire four-member group has now been eliminated, sources said. They identified Moosa as the commander of the group. A photograph showing the four militants had earlier circulated widely on social media.
Besides Moosa and Yasir, the group included Sulaiman Shah and Junaid Ahmed Bhat, both of whom were killed in earlier security operations.
According to officials, Shah and Junaid were involved in the Ganderbal tunnel attack in October 2024. Yasir and Moosa, meanwhile, were suspected of involvement in the Butapathri attack near Gulmarg the same year, in which two soldiers and two civilian porters were killed.
Junaid was killed during a security operation in the Harwan area on the outskirts of Srinagar in December 2024, while Shah was killed in July 2025.
The latest operation in Yousmarg marks the killing of the last known member of the group, according to security sources.
