Why Kirana Hills Matters: Strategic Importance Of Pakistan’s Nuclear-Linked Site

Kirana Hills, a rocky range near Sargodha in Pakistan’s Punjab province, has returned to the India-Pakistan security conversation after former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said an Indian loitering munition may have landed there during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. His remarks came more than a year after India had denied targeting the hills, which are reported to have nuclear-linked installations.

The significance of Kirana Hills is not just about what may have happened there in 2025. Its importance goes back to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme and its location near Sargodha, a major military and air-power centre. The combination makes the area particularly sensitive during an India-Pakistan conflict, even when a nuclear installation is not the intended target.

How Kirana Hills became linked to Pakistan’s nuclear programme

Kirana Hills acquired strategic importance during Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons. The 1971 war, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, was followed by a stronger push in Pakistan for a nuclear deterrent. India’s 1974 nuclear test further heightened Islamabad’s security concerns.

By the early 1980s, Pakistan was conducting experiments linked to its nuclear weapons programme. Kirana Hills was used for underground ‘cold’ or subcritical experiments linked to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development. These were not full nuclear explosions. Instead, they allowed scientists to test aspects of nuclear weapon designs without producing a nuclear detonation.

According to the Nuclear Weapon Archive, the first reported subcritical experiment at the site took place on March 11, 1983. The Nuclear Weapon Archive records Kirana Hills as part of Pakistan’s nuclear development effort before the country conducted its first publicly acknowledged nuclear explosions at Chagai in May 1998.

This distinction is important. Kirana Hills was not where Pakistan carried out its 1998 nuclear explosions. Its historical importance comes from its earlier role in the development and testing of nuclear weapon designs.

There is less certainty about the precise nature of facilities at the site today. The Indian Express reported in May 2025 that Kirana Hills was “reported to house some nuclear installations”. This does not establish that nuclear warheads or other specific nuclear assets are currently stored there.

Why its location near Sargodha matters

Kirana Hills is about 10 km north of Sargodha, according to Chauhan, and lies close to the Pakistan Air Force’s Mushaf air base. Its location adds another layer to its strategic importance.

Mushaf is one of Pakistan’s major air bases and a key part of its military infrastructure. During Operation Sindoor, India targeted military installations in the Sargodha area. The Indian Express reported that the air base was among the Pakistani military sites involved in the operation and noted its proximity to Kirana Hills.

This geography explains why Kirana Hills can become relevant to conventional military operations. A strike aimed at radar or air-defence infrastructure around Sargodha can take place close to a site with a history of nuclear-related activity. That does not make every target in the area a nuclear target, but it increases the sensitivity of military action there.

The issue became particularly sensitive during Operation Sindoor. After India’s strikes in May 2025, claims circulated that Kirana Hills had also been hit and that the incident could have involved Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure. India denied targeting the hills. Air Marshal A K Bharti, then Director General of Air Operations, said India had not hit Kirana Hills.

The International Atomic Energy Agency later said it had no information indicating a radiation leak or release from any nuclear facility in Pakistan. That was important in countering claims of a nuclear incident, but it did not establish the precise status of facilities at Kirana Hills.

There is also a broader legal and strategic reason for the sensitivity. India and Pakistan signed an Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack Against Nuclear Installations and Facilities in 1988. It entered into force in 1991 and requires the two countries to exchange lists of their covered nuclear installations and facilities every January 1. Under the agreement, the two countries undertake not to take actions aimed at destroying or damaging each other’s nuclear installations and facilities.

What Chauhan’s latest account tells us

Chauhan’s remarks provide a new account of what may have happened during Operation Sindoor. He said Indian forces had sent loitering munitions towards Sargodha to search for Pakistani radars. According to him, the weapons could remain in the area for about two hours while looking for targets. If they failed to find one, they would eventually come down.

Chauhan said one munition may have landed in the Kirana Hills area. Crucially, he did not say the hills were selected as an Indian target. Instead, he backed Bharti’s earlier statement that India had not targeted Kirana Hills, while suggesting that a munition searching for a radar may nevertheless have ended up there. The Indian Express reported his remarks on August 26.

This distinction is central to understanding the episode. An intended strike on a nuclear installation would carry very different implications from an unintended impact near a site associated with nuclear infrastructure.

Kirana Hills therefore matters for three connected reasons: its history in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development, its proximity to the Sargodha-Mushaf military complex, and the potential for conventional military operations in the area to raise nuclear-escalation concerns.

The latest account does not establish that India deliberately attacked a Pakistani nuclear facility, nor does it establish that a nuclear installation was damaged. What it does show is why Kirana Hills remains a sensitive location in India-Pakistan security calculations: conventional military targets and nuclear-linked infrastructure exist within the same wider strategic area, leaving little room for ambiguity during a crisis.