Loitering munition must have hit Pak's Kirana Hills: Gen Chauhan

Former CDS Gen Anil Chauhan clarified that a loitering munition looking for radars near Sargodha, Pakistan, likely hit Kirana Hills—a nuclear site—after its two-hour life expired without finding a target during Operation Sindoor.

Former CDS Anil Chauhan (Photo/ANI)

A loitering munition looking for radars which were in and around Sargodha in Pakistan must have hit an area in Kirana Hills - which houses Pakistan's nuclear facilities - as the ammunition has a lifetime of about two hours and hits somewhere once it does not find a target, former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday, bringing clarity to a matter related to Operation Sindoor.

General Chauhan, who was speaking at the Vivekananda Centre in New Delhi, said it's been asked on occasions whether Kirana Hills were hit or not. "I think I'll clarify this...at occasions, it's been asked whether Kirana Hills were hit or not, which is where their (Pakistan's) nuclear facilities are... Before those strikes, we had sent in a lot of loitering ammunitions at Sargodha and Kirana Hills is about 10 kilometers north of Sargodha. So the loitering ammunition is looking for radars which are in and around Sargodha, and it has a lifetime, which means it will loiter for about two hours and once it does not find a target, it comes down and hits somewhere," Gen Chauhan said. "It must have come and hit one of those hills. So that could be one of the reasons as to what people asked, because Pakistani media also showed some kind of images in which there was smoke coming out from Kirana Hills," he added.

Earlier Stance on Kirana Hills Strike

Air Marshal AK Bharti, who was DG Air Operations during Operation Sindoor, had said that India did not hit any targets in Pakistan's Kirana Hills. "Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills. I did not brief in my briefing yesterday," Air Marshal Bharti said on May 12, 2025 in response to social media speculation that India has struck a site seen as nuclear hub of Pakistan's armed forces.

Operation Sindoor Context

India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and POJK. As Pakistan sought to escalate, India pounded its airbases, forcing it to seek a ceasefire. (ANI)

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