Top Lashkar commander Hashim Musa killed in J&K encounter

According to officials, the group comprising Musa, Junaid, Yasir and Suleiman Shah carried out the Halan attack (Kulgam) on August 4, 2023, in which four Army personnel were killed.

The last surviving member of the four-member group of Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists that carried out some of the most sensational terror attacks in recent years in J&K, Hashim Musa, was killed in an overnight encounter in the Khansahib area of central Kashmir’s Budgam, the Indian Army said on Wednesday.

Officials said LeT’s commander Musa, also known as Asif Fauji, was killed in a joint operation built on intelligence inputs in an area under the Khansahib police station. Security forces were pursuing Musa for some time and “recently a specific all-stakeholder plan for his neutralisation was put in place after technical and human intelligence about his movement and presence were received”, officials said.

“Further to the ongoing operation, during the search early morning in General Area Palmaidan, the body of Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa was recovered along with war-like stores,” Army’s 15 Corps said in a statement on Wednesday.

Officials also stated that with Musa’s death, “the entire group of four senior LeT commanders operating in the UT since 2022, and responsible for sensational attacks, stand neutralised”.

Musa was linked to several terror attacks, including Halan (August 2023), Dehra Ki Gali (December 2023), Kandi (May 2023), Shahsitar (May 2024), Shiv Khori (June 2024), Gagangir (Oct 2024), Bootapathri Oct 2024), and the Baisaran attack in April 2025, an official note from the Ministry of Home Affairs stated.

Three other members of the group were killed by security forces over the years — Junaid Bhat (December 2024, Operation Dachigam); Suleiman (July 2025, Operation Mahadev); and Yasir (September 2026, Operation Asdhar).

Musa is believed to have infiltrated the valley in 2022. He came into prominence after his photos surfaced in the forensic analysis of the phone recovered in Operation Dachigam in July 2025. “In the photograph, he was accompanied by foreign terrorist Suleman Shah, local theorist Junaid Ramzan Bhat, and another foreign terrorist Yasir,” a senior security official told The Indian Express.

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According to officials, the group comprising Musa, Junaid, Yasir and Suleiman Shah carried out the Halan attack (Kulgam) on August 4, 2023, in which four Army personnel were killed.

On December 21, 2023, the group attacked Army vehicles in Poonch, in which five Army jawans lost their lives.