Srinagar: Security forces have killed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Mohammad Asif, alias Hashim Musa, in an encounter in the Yusmarg area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, officials said. The operation, code-named Operation Korag, was a joint effort by the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF.
According to officials, security forces launched a search in Yusmarg on information that terrorists were present. When suspicious movement was detected and the terrorists were asked to surrender, they opened fire, triggering an exchange of gunfire in which Musa was killed. A subsequent search led to the recovery of his body, along with a large quantity of weapons and other materials.
Korag encounter in J&K | Body of Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Musa, who was wanted in the Pahalgam terror attack, recovered along with war-like stores
Following the 22nd April Pahalgam terror attack, J&K Police had released a… https://t.co/q39FcEr1Pq pic.twitter.com/tm10s2YAeV
— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2026
Musa’s name had emerged as a key one in the case of the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed. Jammu and Kashmir Police had announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh for information on his whereabouts in connection with the case. Security agencies had identified him as a Pakistani national belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Officials also suspected his links to several attacks in the Poonch-Rajouri region and the Kashmir Valley. Security forces had been searching for him for some time, and the hunt intensified after his associate Yasir was killed in an encounter in Yusmarg on September 5.
Acting on fresh information, forces traced Musa’s location, which led to the encounter. The search continued in the forest area afterwards, where his body was found.