India hit Pak N-warheads depot Kirana Hills during Op Sindoor, claims OSINT expert

India Today

21-07-2025

There is satellite imagery to suggest that India hit Pakistan's Kirana Hills, one of the storehouses of the country's nuclear warheads, according to renowned OSINT expert Damien Symon. However, replying to a query, Symon suggested that the image indicates it was a warning strike without any subterranean impact or penetration.During the mini-war between India and Pakistan in May, India's retaliatory strikes, including those at Nur Khan airbase in Chaklala, made Islamabad call for a ceasefire.advertisementHowever, Indian military rejected that it had targeted Kirana Hills in Sargoda district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
It is believed that reinforced caves within the mountains are one of the sites of where the Pakistani military stores its nuclear warhead."We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there. I did not brief in my briefing yesterday," said Air Marshal AK Bharti on May 12 responding to a question from a journalist during a tri-services briefing.Damien Symon shared Google Earth an image of Sargodha region of Pakistan that he claimed were from updated June 2025, saying that it showed the "impact location of India's strike on Kirana Hills in May 2025".
Symon is a geo-intelligence researcher and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) expert known for his work at The Intel Lab.He is widely recognised for analysing satellite imagery and publicly available data to verify or debunk claims related to conflict zones, particularly in the India-Pakistan region."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.A user asked Symon if the scar indicated it was a deep 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, tunnels etc are further away & don't show any damage," replied Symon.Social media was abuzz with chatter on how Kirana Hills might have been hit in Operation Sindoor. Handles have shared images, videos and maps claiming a blast at the Kirana Hills in Sargodha.Videos showed dense plumes of smoke rising from the base of the rugged Kirana Hills. But high-resolution satellite imagery was absent.advertisementGeolocation by India Today's OSINT team placed the smoke near the hills, based on the footage posted on the day of the strikes.WHO IS OSINT EXPERT DAMIEN SYMON?Operating under the handle @detresfa on X, Symon has garnered attention for exposing disinformation, such as manipulated images and false claims by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) during India's Operation Sindoor in May 2025.His work includes confirming damage to Pakistani military installations, like the Sargodha airbase, and debunking fabricated narratives, such as doctored images of Indian airbases.Symon uses tools like LANDSAT, KawaSpace, and MazarVision imagery to provide verifiable evidence, contributing to discussions on digital disinformation and military transparency.WAS KIRANA HILLS HIT UNDER OPERATION SINDOOR?While the Mushaf airbase in Sargodha was confirmed as one of India's missile targets, Air Marshal Bharti denied reports of any strike on the facility at Kirana Hills.The two sites are barely seven kilometres apart.India carried out strikes on terror camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) on May 7 after Pakistani terrorists on April 22 killed 26 people in Kashmir's Pahalgam.After Pakistan targeted Indian military and civilian sites, India struck 11 military sites deep inside Pakistan, using precision weapons.advertisementThe targets included critical airbases in Rafiqui, Murid, Nur Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, and Sialkot, according to India's Ministry of Defence.The attack on Nur Khan military base near Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan's military establishment, is the most significant.The strike on Nur Khan airbase in Chaklala, near Rawalpindi, was significant as it lies in close proximity to the headquarters of the Strategic Plans Division, the body overseeing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.The New York Times quoted a former US official familiar with Pakistan's nuclear programme, noting, "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."Satellite imagery also indicated a strike on the runway of Mushaf airbase in Sargodha with loitering munitions. This base is reportedly linked to underground nuclear storage sites beneath the Kirana Hills.The strikes at Nur Khan and Sargodha were meant to indicate India's capability to neutralise Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in case of further escalation in the conflict.India called Pakistan's nuclear bluff with its attack during Op Sindoor.The target sites and videos on social media gave a boost to the buzz that Kirana Hills had been hit in an indicative attack, revealing India's strike capability. Though Indian military denied there was any attack, OSINT expert Damien Symon has now claimed that Google Earth images, updated in June, indicate Kirana Hills in Sargodha region were hit in a "warnig strike".- EndsMust Watch