India
oi-Ashish Rana
Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has now opened up about on a question that remained unsolved during the Operation Sindoor in May 2025. He said that one Indian loitering munition may struck in Pakistan’s Kirana Hills, which is an area connected with Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure, however, it wasn’t intentionally attacked.
General Anil Chauhan stated an Indian loitering munition may have inadvertently hit Pakistan’s Kirana Hills near Sargodha during Operation Sindoor in May 2025 while searching for radars, contradicting India’s earlier official denial of striking the area associated with nuclear infrastructure.
Why Was The Drone Sent Towards Sargodha?
Anil Chauhan also explained that India had deployed many loitering munitions around Sargodha to search Pakistan’s radar system. Kirana Hills is just 10 Km north to Sargodha.
He said that these weapons can stay in airborne while searching for a target. According to Anil Chauhan, the munition could loiter for almost two hours, if it failed to find the target then eventually it falls and hit somewhere.
“Before those strikes, we had sent a lot of loiter ammunition at Sargodha, and Kirana Hills is 10 km north of Sargodha. So the loiter ammunition was looking for radars, which were in and around Sargodha, and it has got a lifetime. It will loiter for about two hours, and if it doesn’t find a target, it will come and hit somewhere. It must have come and hit one of those hills.” he said.
What Did India Say About Kirana Hills In 2025?
Although now the current statement differs from the earlier statement India release during the Kirana Hills target.
On May 12, 2025, Air Marshal AK Bharti, then Director General of Air Operations, dismissed speculation that the Indian military had attacked the area during Operation Sindoor. He said, “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.”
Now this latest statement tells why the reports of hitting Kirana Hills circulated despite the India denied it officially.
What Was Operation Sindoor?
India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May, 2025 in response to 22 April Pahalgam terror Attack in Jammu and Kashmir, that killed around 26 people. Later India forces targeted infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
Later the operation turned into military war between India and Pakistan. Although, on 10 May 2025, India agreed to ceasefire after Pakistan’s request.
