Pahalgam massacre: Pakistani terrorist former para commando, says probe

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Investigations reveal Hashim Musa, the Pakistani terrorist behind the Pahalgam massacre, is a former para commando from Pakistan’s special forces. Sources indicate Musa, now with LeT, was deployed to J&K to target non-locals and security forces.

NEW DELHI: Hashim Musa, the identified Pakistani terrorist behind the Pahalgam massacre, is a former para commando of Pakistan Army’s Special Forces, investigations into the terror conspiracy have confirmed.

Sources told TOI that Musa, now a hardcore terrorist working with the Pakistan-based banned terrorist outfit Lashker e Taiba (LeT), was sent by the LeT masterminds to Kashmir on a specific mission to unleash terror attacks on non-locals as well as security forces. “It is possible that he was loaned by the Pakistan special forces like the Special Service Group (SSG), to the LeT,” an officer of the security establishment here said.

Para-commandos of SSG are highly-trained in unconventional warfare and specialise in covert operations. The intensive and rigorous training regimen focuses on physical conditioning and mental fitness, besides strategic thinking. SSG commandos are adept at handling sophisticated weapons as well as hand-to-hand combat and have high navigation and survival skills.

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A senior officer said Musa’s Pakistan Army background — confirmed during the questioning of 15 Kashmir overground workers (OGWs) who have emerged as key suspects in the Pahalgam attack probe for having facilitated the Pakistani assailants by arranging logistics and helping in the reconnaissance — is being seen as evidence of ISI’s role in the Pahalgam terror attack, as also earlier strikes in Kashmir. The latter include the October 2024 terror attacks at Gagangir, Ganderbal, in which 6 non-locals and a doctor were killed, and at Buta Pathri, Baramulla, which had left two Army personnel and two Army porters dead.

Musa has emerged as the common perpetrator in all three attacks. Junaid Ahmad Bhat and Arbaaz Mir, two other local terrorists trained in Pakistan, were also involved in the Gagangeer and Buta Pathri attacks but were neutralised in separate encounters with the security forces in November and December 2024. Musa has since been working to carry forward the terror mission to target non-locals in Kashmir, and struck big by killing 26 civilians, including 25 tourists, at Baisaran.

The Pahalgam attack investigation has thrown up the involvement of a local network of OGWs and terror facilitators in south Kashmir, who guided the Pahalgam attack team and arranged logistics including shelter and possibly helped in transportation of weapons used in the attack. Detailed reconnaissance of the attack site was carried out with the locals’ involvement, helping in mapping the terrorists’ hiding places before and after the attack.

Though the information so far has confirmed the role of two Pakistani terrorists Hashmi Musa and Ali Bhai and as many locals — Adil Thoker and Asif Shaikh — the questioning of OGWs points to the involvement of more Pakistani terrorists.

A source said the combing operations in the jungles surrounding Baisaran are at an advanced stage, with the location of the attacks now “reasonably known”. “The search has now been narrowed to a limited area,” an officer told TOI.

Bharti Jain

Bharti Jain is senior editor with The Times of India, New Delhi. She has been writing on security matters since 1996. Having covered the Union home ministry, security agencies, Election Commission and the ‘prime’ political beat, the Congress, for The Economic Times all these years, she moved to TOI in August 2012. Her repertoire of news stories delves into the whole gamut of issues related to terrorism and internal strife, besides probing strategic affairs in India’s neighbourhood.Read More

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