New Delhi: “We did not hit Kirana Hills,” Air Marshal A K Bharti, Director General Air Operations (DGMO), India, said on Monday, dismissing all speculation that India targeted an underground nuclear facility of Pakistan located in that area.
Air Marshal Bharti was responding to a question on whether the Kirana Hills were hit by Indian missiles during Op Sindoor. After the journalist said that Kirana Hills, near the Sargodha air base of the Pakistan Air Force, is a nuclear storage site, the DGAO said: “Thank you for telling us that Pakistan has stored its nuclear weapons at Kirana Hills, wherever that is. We did not hit Kirana Hills. It was not on the list of the targets we told you we hit.”
There is considerable material being shared on social media about a nuclear leak in that area after a missile strike by India. There are also rumours of a special team from the US landing in Pakistan to check for radiation and take remedial measures. Air Marshal Bharti’s statement has made it clear that India did not behave in an irresponsible manner.
The Sargodha air base was among the targets specified by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The other bases are Nur Khan (Chaklala), Rafiqui, Murid, Sukkur, Sialkot, Pasrur, Chunian, Skardu, Bholari and Jacobabad.
In fact, Pakistan brought these strikes upon itself by targeting Indian military and civilian locations with missiles and armed drones after Op Sindoor was launched on May 7. As the DGAO pointed out: “India’s war was against terror. Pakistan decided to make it their own.”
Two weeks after 26 persons, mostly tourists were killed by terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India launched Op Sindoor against nine terror facilities inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). These were high-precision strikes and extreme care was taken to avoid any damage to military or civilian locations across the border.
The strikes at these nine facilities killed over 100 terrorists, following which Pakistan launched attacks on India. Most of these attacks were foiled. Finally, the IAF launched the strikes on the Pakistani air bases, to destroy infrastructure such as air defence systems, radar stations, hangars and drone storage areas.
