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What is Kirana Hills in Pakistan, the site India denies it struck during Operation Sindoor?

As India struck Pakistan's air bases as part of Operation Sindoor, rumours emerged that the nation had hit Kirana Hills in Pakistan, which is believed to be a nuclear storage facility. However, the Indian Air Force has outrightly rejected this claim, saying they 'don't know about it'. Here's what we were able to dig up on this location read more India rejected all buzz of any hit at Pakistan's Kirana Hills, which is believed to be a storage facility for nuclear warheads. Image Courtesy: X When India launched retaliatory strikes against Pakistan, as part of the broader Operation Sindoor, it targeted multiple airbases in the neighbouring nation and several other military infrastructure. Soon after, buzz emerged on social media that India had struck Kirana Hills , which reportedly has a nuclear storage facility. However, Indian Air Force's Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal AK Bharti rejected these claims at a press briefing on Monday (May 12), saying: 'We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there. I did not brief in my briefing yesterday.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD But it seems that India's rejection of these claims have piqued interest in this location — with many asking, 'what is Kirana Hills and why is it important'? What is Kirana Hills? Where is it located? Located in Pakistan's Sargodha district, Kirana Hills is a vast rocky mountain range and a designated area under Pakistan's Ministry of Defence. Often referred to as the 'Black Mountains' due to its brownish terrain, it stretches between the township of Rabwah and the city of Sargodha, forming part of the Mushaf Air Force Base. Incidentally, Mushaf is one of the airbases that India had struck earlier — it is the Command Headquarters of Pakistan air force and is home to various squadrons of F-16, JF-16. According to some reports, Kirana Hills houses over 10 underground tunnels, with widespread speculation suggesting these tunnels are used for the storage of Pakistan's nuclear warheads. Moreover, it is very closely situated to key military installations, including the Sargodha Air Base, located only 20 km away, and the Khushab nuclear complex (around 75 km away), highlighting its sensitive nature. In 2023, a report by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an independent non-profit, stated that the Kirana Hills is a subcritical nuclear test site used by Pakistan to develop its nuclear programme from 1983 to 1990. The report added that the site likely includes munitions storage areas, TEL (Transporter Erector Launcher) garages, and at least 10 underground storage facilities. Historical data reveals that the Pakistani ministry of defence acquired the hills as a defence site in 1970 and established a radar station, which is still in use today. Moreover, the hills came into prominence when US satellites detected preparations for nuclear tests by Pakistan between 1983 and 1990. It also stated that it continued to retain its importance as M-11 missiles, supplied by China, are believed to have been stored there. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A report in The Print published in 2017 further revealed that the location housed at least 10 tunnels constructed by Special Works Development (SWD), a military unit created to handle field engineering work of nuclear sites. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt General Rajiv Ghai with Air Marshal AK Bharti during a press conference on 'Operation Sindoor', in New Delhi. PTI Why are we talking about Kirana Hills? But why the sudden interest in Kirana Hills? Interest in the Pakistani location surged days after India struck airbases in the neighbouring country. Many on X speculated that India had hit Kirana Hills, stating that it houses Pakistan's many nuclear warheads. This interest got amplified on Monday when a journalist posed the same question to the IAF official at the press briefing. The journalist in his question said that there had been social media chatter claiming that India had struck the Mushaf Airbase in Sargodha, reportedly linked to underground nuclear storage beneath the Kirana Hills, using loitering and penetrating munitions. The smile says everything—😎 On the question of whether we really hit their nuclear facility at Kirana Hills ☠️☠️🔥 — BALA (@erbmjha) May 12, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, Air Marshal AK Bharti rejected these claims saying, 'Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation. We did not know about it. And we have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there.' What has India hit inside Pakistan? While India has categorically denied hitting Kirana Hills, in a press briefing it said that it had carried out strikes on terror camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7, killing over 100 terrorists. It added that it only targeted Pakistan's military infrastructure after Islamabad chose to attack Indian military and civilian areas with mortar shells, drones and missiles. It is in their counter-attack that In its counter-attack that the Indian Air Force (IAF) struck 11 military sites deep inside Pakistan using air-launched precision weapons. The targets included critical airbases in Rafiqui, Murid, Nur Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, and Sialkot, according to India's Ministry of Defence. A satellite image revealing the damage India caused to the Rahim Yar Khan air base. In fact, the attack on Nur Khan military base near Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan's military establishment, is the most significant. On Monday, the Indian Armed Forces also revealed satellite images showcasing the true extent of damage that the strikes have caused on Pakistan's air bases. Some of the high-resolution satellite images show craters at some of the vital air installations, which sources claim rattled Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and pushed India for a ceasefire. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies