Terrorist killed in a gunfire exchange with soldiers in Kashmir, India

Security forces killed a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist during a joint operation in the forested higher reaches of central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Tuesday night, the Indian Army said.

The encounter took place in the Korag area near Yousmarg under Operation Korag. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, troops from the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a search operation in the area.

According to an official statement by the Army’s Chinar Corps, vigilant troops observed suspicious activity. When challenged, the terrorists opened fire, triggering a fierce exchange of gunfire in which one terrorist was neutralised. The operation continued overnight.

In an update early on Wednesday, Chinar Corps confirmed that the body of the slain militant was recovered during further searches in the general area of Palmaidan. He was identified as Mohammad Asif, alias Hashim Moosa, a Pakistan-based LeT terrorist. War-like stores were also recovered from the site. The operation remained in progress.

Officials said Moosa, also referred to in reports as Fauzi Musa or Asif Fauji, had been active in the region and had earlier escaped an encounter in the Yousmarg area on September 5, in which his associate, identified as Yasir, was killed.

Security forces have intensified operations in the Pir Panjal belt and surrounding forested areas of Budgam as part of ongoing counter-terror efforts in Jammu and Kashmir.