SRINAGAR: In a major success for security forces, a top commander belonging to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was gunned down on Tuesday during an intense encounter in the higher reaches of central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

The Indian Army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps reported that a joint search operation, codenamed Operation Korag, was launched in the general area of Korag near Yousmarg by the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

According to security officials, vigilant troops spotted suspicious movement in the remote forest terrain. When challenged to surrender, the hiding terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on the search party, triggering a fierce exchange of gunshots. During the ensuing firefight, one terrorist was neutralized.

While the Chinar Corps initially withheld formal identification of the slain operative, field officials identified him as a high-value, most-wanted LeT commander—variously noted in reports as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa or Fauzi Musa.

Intelligence sources revealed that the neutralized operative was heavily tracked due to his involvement in multiple terror attacks spanning across both sides of the Pir Panjal range over the past several years. Crucially, he had narrowly managed to escape an earlier gunfight in the Yousmarg hills on September 5, during which his close associate and aide, Yasir, was eliminated by security forces.

Defense analysts and security officials have hailed the operation as a monumental blow to the operational network of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group operating within the Union Territory. Operations in the wider remote forest areas of Dudhpathri and Yousmarg remained ongoing as security forces conducted clean-up sweeps.