On September 29, 2026, a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and former Pakistan Army Special Services Group (SSG) commando, Mohammad Asif aka Hashim Musa / Hashim Moosa / Fauji, was killed in an encounter in the Korag area of Yusmarg in the Budgam District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). His body, along with war-like stores, was recovered during a search operation in the Palmaidan area near Yousmarg early on September 30. Hashim Musa operated across the Pir Panjal range in the Poonch-Rajouri belt and into the Kashmir Valley. He had escaped an earlier encounter in the Yousmarg hills during which his associate Yasir, a LeT terrorist, was killed around September 5, 2026, in Operation Ashdar in the Ashdar Gali area of Budgam.
“The killing of Moosa is a serious blow to the LeT ecosystem in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statement on September 30, 2026, noted. According to the official Press Information Bureau (PIB) release, with Moosa’s killing, the entire group of four senior LeT commanders operating in J&K since 2022 had been neutralised. The MHA identified the other three commanders as Junaid Bhat, killed in Dachigam, Srinagar District, on December 3, 2024; Suleman, killed during Operation Mahadev in Pahalgam, Anantnag District, on July 28, 2025; and Yasir, killed during Operation Asdhar on September 4, 2026. The group was linked to attacks at Halan in Kulgam District, Kandi in Rajouri District, Dera Ki Gali in Poonch District, Shahsitar in Poonch, Shiv Khori in Reasi District, Gagangir in Ganderbal District, Bootapathri in Baramulla District, and Baisaran in Pahalgam.
The killing of Hashim Musa is not an isolated incident; it is a microcosm of Pakistan’s institutional strategy. At least five terrorists have been killed in encounters between September 1 and 30, 2026, including Musa. On September 5, a terrorist identified as Yasir was killed in Budgam. On September 17, two Pakistani terrorists, Saddam and Mustafa, were killed in Udhampur District. The decomposed body of a suspected Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist, along with an M4 assault rifle, was recovered from Seojdhar Forest in Doda District.
Hashim Musa was a resident of Mohalla Kohisar Colony in the New Chakra area of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. His family originally hailed from Dhok Maliyar village in the Nasirabad area in Attock District of Punjab province; he relocated to Rawalpindi in 2015 with his wife Abida Parveen and their three daughters. He served for 23 years in the Pakistan Army’s SSG as a Havildar in the 4th Commando Yalghar Battalion (Pakistan Army Service Number PA-3106947). He was part of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s personal security detail from 2006 to 2008. His operational history included counter-insurgency operations against the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) in Balochistan (2006), operations in Kurram Agency (2011-12), North and South Waziristan (2014-15), and against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Agency (2015-16). He was also deployed with a Pakistan Army contingent for a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan in 2009. He received military awards including the Tamgha-e-Istiqlal and Tamgha-e-Azm. Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) reissued him a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC 37105-9228244-5) on September 12, 2020, valid until 2030. He retired from the Pakistan Army on March 31, 2023, at the age of 42. After retirement, he joined LeT, illegally crossed into India in September 2023, and was appointed as the chief commander of LeT in J&K. His military background and appearance earned him the sobriquet Fauji.
The April 22, 2025, attack at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam of Anantnag District killed 26 people (25 tourists and one local pony operator). Early police investigations named Hashim Musa among the key suspects, alongside Adil Hussain Thoker and Ali Bhai aka Talha, and announced an INR 2 million reward for his arrest. However, the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA’s) 1,597-page chargesheet filed on December 15, 2025 did not name Hashim Musa among the seven accused or the three direct attackers. It charged LeT and TRF as organisations and named Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt (who remains at large), the three Pakistani terrorists killed in Operation Mahadev, including Faisal Jatt aka Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir aka Jibran, and Hamza Afghani, and two local harbourers – Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothat. A later supplementary chargesheet also named LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. Musa remained at large for more than 17 months after the April 2025 Baisaran massacre, until he was finally killed.
Hashim involvement was, however, confirmed in multiple terrorist attacks across J&K. On December 21, 2023, terrorists ambushed two Army vehicles (a Gypsy and a mini-truck) near Dera Ki Gali in the Rajouri-Poonch sector of J&K, while troops were moving to reinforce an ongoing operation; the attack killed four Indian Army soldiers (the final toll after one more soldier succumbed to injuries) and injured another three. He was linked to the Gulmarg attack in October 2024, when terrorists ambushed a vehicle of the 18 Rashtriya Rifles near the Nagin Post in the Bota Pathri area, about 6-7 kilometres from Gulmarg in Baramulla District, close to the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in five fatalities, including three soldiers and two civilian Army porters. In addition, he led the ambush on an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch District on May 4, 2024, near Shahsitar/Sanai Top in the Surankote area, in which Corporal Vikky Pahade of the IAF was killed, and another five personnel were injured.
The elimination of Hashim Musa marks a significant operational success against a high-value foreign terrorist cadre. His specialised military training, experience in counter-insurgency and VVIP security roles, and subsequent leadership within LeT illustrate how skilled terrorists are infiltrated into J&K. His killing marks a notable success for Indian counter-terrorism agencies.
