New Delhi, Sept. 30 -- Security forces killed a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, Moosa alias Asif Fauji, in an intelligence-led joint operation in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.

Moosa was killed in Gurwatkalan in the Khansahib police station area of Budgam after an operation based on technical and human intelligence inputs regarding his movement and location.

The security forces had been monitoring him for a long time and recently laid a trap involving multiple stakeholders to kill him, the statement said.

The operation was part of Operation Sheruwali, which started in May 2026. According to the government, Moosa's killing completes the killing of a group of four senior commanders of LeT who had been active in Jammu and Kashmir since 2022 and were allegedly involved in several terror attacks.

The other three commanders - Junaid Bhat, Suleman and Yasir - were killed in encounters.

Junaid Bhat was killed in Dachigam on December 3, 2024, Suleman during Operation Mahadev on July 28, 2025, and Yasir during Operation Asdhar on September 4, 2026.

The four commanders' modules were responsible for numerous terror strikes apart from the ones named above. They were linked to attacks in Halan, Kandi, DKG, Shahsitar, Shiv Khori, Gagangir, Bootapathri and Baisaran between 2023 and 2025.

The government said Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Indian Army and Central Armed Police Forces have been carrying out counter-terrorist operations in close coordination.

The slain terrorist of the banned LeT was a retired havildar from the Pakistan Army's elite Special Services Group (SSG), who once served in former president Pervez Musharraf's security convoy, officials said on Wednesday.

Asif, who also operated under aliases such as Fauji and Sulaiman Shah, infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir in 2021 and was serving as the LeT's chief operations commander in the region.

Security officials said his death not only concluded an intensive five-year hunt but also rendered the Pakistan-based terror group leaderless in the region.

During his 23-year tenure with the Pakistani military, Asif spent 18 years in the SSG.

Between 2006 and 2008, he was deputed to the security detail of former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf.

During his service, he underwent specialised VVIP protection training in the United States and completed medical courses with US Special Forces.

Following his retirement from the army, Asif, whose service number was PA-3106947, was handpicked by terror handler networks initially to train cadres before being infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir to lead LeT operations.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.