New Delhi: Security forces have recovered the body of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa in the Palmaidan area of Jammu & Kashmir’s Budgam district following an encounter during Operation Korag. The Indian Army said the body was found early Wednesday along with war-like stores as searches continued in the Korag-Yousmarg area.
The operation began after the Army, Jammu & Kashmir Police and CRPF launched a joint search on specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists. Troops detected suspicious movement and, when challenged, the terrorists opened fire, triggering an exchange in which one terrorist was killed.
In a subsequent update, the Army’s Chinar Corps identified the slain terrorist as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa and described him as a Pakistan based LeT terrorist. War-like stores were recovered with the body, although an itemized list of weapons and ammunition had not been released at the time of publication.
Security officials said Moosa was an associate of Pakistani LeT terrorist Yasir, who was killed during Operation Ashdar in the Yousmarg area on September 5. Earlier reporting citing security officials linked Yasir and Asif Fouji alias Moosa to attacks including the December 2023 Dera Ki Gali ambush and the October 2024 Buta Pathri attack, while Jammu & Kashmir Police separately linked Yasir to the May 2024 attack on an Indian Air Force convoy in Poonch.
Security sources had also described Yasir and Moosa as associates of senior LeT commander Sulaiman Shah. Shah was killed with Hamza Afghani and Jibran during Operation Mahadev in July 2025, with the Union home minister, Amit Shah, subsequently telling the Lok Sabha that all three had carried out the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
Another LeT operative linked by police to the wider network, Junaid Ahmed Bhat, was killed near Dachigam in December 2024. Jammu & Kashmir Police said Bhat had been involved in the October 2024 Gagangir tunnel attack in which a doctor and six workers were killed.
Security sources said Moosa’s killing had eliminated the remaining members of the group they had been tracking, although the Army’s latest statement did not make that assessment.
Some media outlets reported that Hashim Musa had been wanted in connection with the Pahalgam attack. Jammu & Kashmir police had initially released a sketch identifying Hashim Musa alias Sulaiman among three suspected attackers and announced a reward of ₹20 lakh for information on each of them.
That early identification was later revised during the investigation. The Indian Express reported in June 2025, citing central agency sources, that the three men shown in the initial Jammu & Kashmir Police sketches were not the gunmen who carried out the Pahalgam attack.
The NIA’s December 2025 chargesheet formally identified the three Pakistani attackers as Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran and Hamza Afghani, all killed during Operation Mahadev. The 1,597-page chargesheet also named Pakistan based handler Sajid Jatt, LeT/the resistance front and two alleged harbourers, but did not name Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa as one of the gunmen.
Security establishment sources had separately described the Hashim Musa being pursued by agencies as a former commando of Pakistan’s Special Service Group who later joined LeT, though that background was not mentioned in the latest Chinar Corps statement.
Search operations remained underway in the Korag-Palmaidan area as security forces sought to determine whether other terrorists were present and examined material recovered from the encounter site.