Who Was Hashim Moosa? LeT Terrorist Killed In Budgam Operation

A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa and Asif Fauji was killed in an Army operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam late Tuesday night, following an intelligence input about his presence in the area.

The operation was launched by the Army’s 15 Chinar Corps after actionable intelligence indicated that Moosa was in the general area of Gurweth Kalan. He was killed at around 10.30 pm on September 29, according to the information provided.

Moosa had been under the surveillance of security agencies for more than 18 months and was regarded as a high-value foreign terrorist operating in Jammu and Kashmir, intelligence inputs said.

According to the inputs, he was linked to several attacks on security forces in the Union Territory. He was also in regular communication with LeT commander Sajid Jatt, who has been identified as a key handler in the conspiracy linked to the Pahalgam attack, reported Hindustan Times.

Who Was Moosa?

Moosa, also known as Asif Fauji and Suleiman, was a Pakistani national and an LeT operative believed to have entered India in 2023.

Intelligence inputs identified him as a former Special Service Group (SSG) commando. Following his alleged infiltration, he was suspected of involvement in multiple attacks targeting security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

He subsequently became a high-value target for security agencies, which had been tracking him for over a year and a half.

According to intelligence inputs, Moosa was linked to a number of attacks on security forces. Three Army personnel were killed in the Halan attack in Kulgam on August 4, 2023. The DKG ambush on December 21, 2023, left four Army personnel dead.

On May 4, 2024, an attack on an Indian Air Force convoy at Shastar in Poonch killed one IAF personnel. On October 24, 2024, two Army soldiers and two Army porters were killed in the Botapathri attack in Gulmarg.

Link With Sajid Jatt

Moosa was in sustained contact with Sajid Jatt, a senior LeT commander associated with the wider terror network linked to the Pahalgam attack, according to intelligence inputs.

The information provided said Moosa was not among those who carried out the Pahalgam attack. However, his communication with Jatt made him a target for agencies investigating and tracking the wider LeT network in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Budgam operation was triggered by specific intelligence about Moosa’s location. The input was shared with 15 Chinar Corps, which acted on it and tracked him to Gurweth Kalan.

An AK-47 rifle, two AK magazines, a LoRa/Ultra device handset, a LoRa/Ultra mobile device and a mobile phone were recovered from the site following the operation.