Satellite Imagery Suggests Indian Strike Hit Pakistan’s Kirana Hills Despite Official Denials

 Nearly two months after India formally denied targeting Pakistan’s nuclear facility at Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor, new satellite imagery has emerged suggesting otherwise. Captured in June 2025 and analyzed by geo-intelligence expert Damien Symon, the images appear to show the impact site of an Indian missile strike in the highly sensitive Sargodha district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 10 in retaliation for a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that claimed the lives of 26 security personnel. The operation reportedly involved precision strikes on key Pakistani military assets.

According to Symon, the imagery reveals two critical developments:

1. A strike impact site at Kirana Hills, long suspected to be a hub of Pakistan’s nuclear program.

2. Repaired runways at the Sargodha Airbase, implying post-strike damage recovery efforts.

“The latest Google Earth imagery of the Sargodha region, Pakistan, captured in June 2025, confirms the impact location of India’s strike on Kirana Hills in May, as well as visible runway repairs at Sargodha Airbase,” Symon posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Kirana Hills is regarded as one of Pakistan’s most secure and secretive military zones, believed to house underground storage facilities for nuclear warheads and to have been a site of nuclear research — including subcritical tests dating back to the 1980s.

The rapid reconstruction at Sargodha Airbase underscores its strategic importance. Despite the visual evidence, Pakistani authorities have not issued any official statement either confirming or denying the reported damage.

India, too, has maintained ambiguity. When questioned on May 12 regarding alleged strikes on Kirana Hills, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, Director General of Air Operations, responded tersely, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills.” His understated remark — delivered with a noticeable smile — quickly went viral, fueling speculation across social media platforms.

As independent analysts continue to examine the implications of this development, questions remain over the full scope and consequences of Operation Sindoor, particularly in light of the region’s volatile nuclear dimensions.