Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan has said a loitering munition deployed during Operation Sindoor may have struck the Kirana Hills area near Pakistan’s Sargodha, where nuclear-related facilities are located.
Speaking at the ‘VIMARSH’ event on Operation Sindoor and its aftermath at the Vivekananda International Foundation, Gen. During a media briefing during Operation Sindoor, former Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, had said on May 12 last year that the Indian armed forces did not target the nuclear facility at Kirana Hills in Pakistan.
Chauhan said India had sent several loitering missions around Sargodha before the strikes to search for radars.
We did not know about it. And we have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there. If they failed to locate a target within that period, they would eventually descend and strike somewhere. He also referred to images aired by Pakistani media showing smoke emerging from the area. Gen. On U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating the India-Pakistan ceasefire, Gen.
Responding to a query during a press conference at the time, Air Marshal Bharti said, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation. “Kirana Hills is about 10 kilometres north of Sargodha,” he said, explaining that the loitering missions had an endurance of around two hours. “It must have come and hit one of those hills,” Gen. Chauhan said, referring to the possibility that one of the loitering munitions struck Kirana Hills. Chauhan said India’s operational success during Operation Sindoor was driven by better situational awareness and battlefield transparency, enabled by greater networking among the Army, Navy and Air Force. Chauhan said the decision was reached directly between the two Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs).
