India struck Pakistan's nuclear warheads depot Kirana Hills during Op Sindoor, claims OSINT expert

Satellite imagery shared by noted OSINT analyst Damien Symon suggests that India may have struck Pakistan’s Kirana Hills—widely believed to house reinforced caves for nuclear warhead storage—during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. While the Indian military officially denied targeting the facility, Symon’s analysis indicates the possibility of a calibrated warning strike.

"Imagery update from Google Earth of the Sargodha region, Pakistan, captured in June 2025, shows — 1 — the impact location of India’s strike on Kirana Hills in May 2025. 2 — repaired runways at Sargodha airbase post India’s strikes in May 2025," Symon posted on X on July 18.

Symon, known online by the handle @detresfa and widely followed for his geo-intelligence work at The Intel Lab, clarified that the damage visible in satellite imagery did not indicate a deep or subterranean strike. "No, this along with earlier imagery, neither indicate any subterranean impact or penetration, it’s just one side of a hill with nothing of value in its immediate vicinity, must’ve been a warning strike on India’s part," he replied to a user query. "Tunnels etc are further away and don’t show any damage."

The Indian Air Force had previously denied striking Kirana Hills. On May 12, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti said during a tri-services briefing, "We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there. I did not brief in my briefing yesterday."

However, speculation over India targeting the nuclear-linked location has persisted since Operation Sindoor. Social media handles circulated videos showing smoke rising from the area, and India Today’s OSINT team geolocated the plume near Kirana Hills, though no high-resolution imagery was initially available.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting 11 military sites deep inside Pakistan in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which killed 26 people. The targets included Rafiqui, Murid, Nur Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, Sialkot, and Sargodha. The Nur Khan base, located near Pakistan’s Strategic Plans Division headquarters, was among the most significant strikes.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the attacks were designed to degrade Pakistan’s military capability and signal India’s readiness to act in depth. The New York Times, quoting a former U.S. official familiar with Pakistan’s nuclear posture, noted: “Pakistan’s deepest fear is of its nuclear command authority being decapitated. The missile strike on Nur Khan could have been interpreted… as a warning that India could do just that.”

Kirana Hills, located in Sargodha district of Punjab, Pakistan, is long believed to house underground nuclear infrastructure. It is roughly 7 km from Mushaf airbase, where other strikes using loitering munitions were confirmed via satellite imagery. Symon’s latest post adds to the growing digital evidence suggesting India may have deliberately signalled its capability to hit Pakistan’s nuclear network without crossing escalation thresholds.