Explained: What Are Kirana Hills? Why Pakistan’s Alleged ‘Nuke’ Facility In Buzz Amid India’s Operation Sindoor|(Photo Courtesy: FPJ)
As stress flare in between India and Pakistan adhering to the Indian militaries’ cross-border strikes under Operation Sindoor, social media sites was abuzz with babble of a blast reported at Kirana Hills.
Though the Indian Air Force (IAF), throughout a press rundown on May 12, formally refuted any type of strike on this area, its reference has actually reignited rate of interest in this obscure however purposefully important website within Pakistan.
So, just what are the Kirana Hills? Why do they matter in South Asia’s nuclear equilibrium? The Free Press Journal discusses:
What Are the Kirana Hills?
The Kirana Hills are a little series of hillsides situated in the Sargodha area of Pakistan’s Punjab district. Stretching throughout about 68 sq kilometres, the location is greatly strengthened and thought to be under the straight control of Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence.
What makes Kirana Hills specifically substantial is not simply their area, that is approximately 20 kilometres from the Sargodha airbase and around 75 kilometres from the Khushab nuclear complicated, however what is stated to be concealed within them.
Retired Indian Army police officer Colonel Vinayak Bhat in his 2017 record for The Print, specified that capitals house a collection of strengthened below ground passages built by Pakistan’s Special Works Development (SWD) device, a design body in charge of secret army facilities.
According to the record, these passages, purportedly as much as 10 in number, are thought to be developed for the storage space of nuclear warheads. Built with strengthened cement concrete (RCC) and split with thermo-mechanically dealt with iron poles, these frameworks are planned to withstand high-impact strikes, though army professionals caution that contemporary deep-penetration artilleries can still breach such strongholds.
What Did IAF Say About Kirana Hills?
The buzz around Kirana Hills increased after India’s press rundown on May 12, where Air Marshal AK Bharti, Director General of Air Operations, reacted to the media conjecture regarding a feasible strike on the area. Bharti stated, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it.” He made clear, “We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there.”
His comments came in the middle of rising rumours and viral messages declaring that Indian strikes might have targeted not simply fear camps, however much deeper army possessions, perhaps as a message to Pakistan’s nuclear command.
According to open-source knowledge, satellite images of the Mushaf airbase in Sargodha, which depends on distance to the Kirana Hills, did program indications of damages from accuracy strikes. While there’s no validated proof of a straight assault on capitals themselves, the effects is that India is indicating its recognition of and prospective capacity to get to Pakistan’s most delicate army websites.
Why Are Kirana Hills Important?
Kirana Hills are important not just for their physical facilities however likewise since they symbolize Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent. As per a February 2025 record by the World Nuclear Association, Pakistan’s Khushab complicated, near to the Kirana Hills, homes 4 hefty water activators creating weapons-grade plutonium, which is the foundation of the nation’s nuclear program.
These nuclear centers and their safety frameworks are viewed as ‘red lines’ in any type of problem. According to a previous United States authorities pointed out by The New York Times, Pakistan’s “deepest fear is of its nuclear command authority being decapitated,” and any type of indicator that India can intimidate such possessions is taken with utmost severity in Islamabad.
