‘Moosa, Yunus and Asif’: The gunmen involved in the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26

Who’s behind the attack in Pahalgam? Who are the gunmen who perpetrated this dastardly attack on April 22, killing at least 26 people? Do the attackers have a link to Pakistan?

These are the questions that everyone seems to be asking after assailants emerged from the pine tree forests in Baisaran meadows — popularly known as Maggi Point or Mini Switzerland — and killed 26 people, mostly tourists who had come there for a bit of fun and frolic.

And it seems that there’s some clarity emerging from the attack as to the identities of the gunmen, as security agencies released a photograph of the four terrorists, reportedly belonging to The Resistance Front, involved in Tuesday’s heinous attack.

Catch the live updates from the Pahalgam terror attack here

It’s also being reported that the entire carnage was thought up by Saifullah Kasuri alias Khalid, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander.

Gunmen in Pahalgam attack identified

On Wednesday (April 23), security agencies released sketches and photographs of the four gunmen involved in the Pahalgam attack. Two of them have been identified as Aadil Thakur of Bijbehara and Aasif Sheikh of Tral — both being locals of Jammu and Kashmir.

The remaining two have been identified as Suleman Shah and Abu Talha, which, according to survivors looked like they were of Pashtun background. News agency PTI reports that Aasif, Suleman and Abu had code names — Moosa, Yunus and Asif — and were involved in previous terror related incidents in Poonch.

Security officials told The Print that the two from Kashmir had gone to Pakistan for training in 2017 and infiltrated with the last batch of foreign terrorists. “It is suspected that they infiltrated last year during the election season and were putting up in South Kashmir’s Tral. There are two locals among the group while others are foreign terrorists from Pakistan. It is the work of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),” the source told The Print.

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“We are doing our best to gather intelligence on the attackers. The search for them is on,” the source added.

It has been reported that until February 2025, there are approximately 60 active terrorists in the Valley. Of these, 35 are from the LeT and 21 are from Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Gunmen used military-grade weapons

Security officials at the scene of the crime, after speaking to survivors and eyewitnesses have also said that the gunmen, clad in camouflage outfits, were armed with body cameras and American-made M4 carbine assault rifles and AK-47s. Officials said that some 50-70 used cartridges had been recovered from the incident site until Tuesday evening.

Survivors have told security personnel that the four gunmen asked for names and separated the Hindu men from the others. The group of four terrorists then opened fire at the men. Officials at the scene of the crime have revealed that the recovered shells were armoured piercing bullets, also known as steel bullets.

“Eyewitnesses have alleged that some tourists were told to remove their clothes before they were killed. Police are verifying these claims,” a source told Indian Express, adding that the attack lasted around 20-25 minutes.

The security grid in Jammu and Kashmir have now launched a massive manhunt for the terrorists with Special Forces also been deployed for the same.

It has also been reported that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will take over the investigation into the deadliest terror attack on civilians in the country since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Saifullah Khalid, top LeT commander and Pahalgam mastermind

As people try to wrap their heads around this massacre in Pahalgam, it is being reported that the mastermind behind this deadly attack is Saifullah Kasuri, also known by the alias Khalid, a senior commander of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Saifullah Khalid is said to be operating from city of Gujranwala in Pakistan, sources said. He is also said to have a close connection with Hafiz Saeed, the LeT co-founder.

Reports state that Khalid has served as the head of the LeT’s Peshawar headquarters in Pakistan. Moreover, he has served on Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD)’s Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of LeT in December 2008.

In the past, Khalid has publicly expressed frustration over Pakistan’s shift in Kashmir policy, particularly after India’s 2019 abrogation of Article 370. He even slammed the Pakistani government’s decision to scale back LeT’s operations in Kashmir, attributing it to escalating violence in regions like Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

LeT or TRF behind Pahalgam attack

In the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, the terror group, known as The Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the incident. A proxy of the LeT, it came into existence in 2019 in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 and revocation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir in August that year.

In January 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs declared the TRF a “terrorist organisation” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for propaganda on terror activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir. This came months after TRF issued threats to journalists in Kashmir.

However, security agencies note that the four gunmen and the involvement of Khalid in the planning of the attack indicates that it was perpetrated by the Lashkar itself.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in Jammu and Kashmir, stated that the country will not bend to terror and that those responsible for the killing of tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir will not be spared. “Bharat will not bend to terror. The culprits of this dastardly terror attack will not be spared,” he said.

With inputs from agencies