Did India hit Pakistan's nuclear hub at Kirana Hills? IAF sets the record straight

AMid continued speculations o'er republic of india striking Pakistan's atomic readiness at Kirana Hills during performance Sindoor, Indian Air Force's Vice Air Chief Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor set the record straight on Wednesday, saying that "we did nothing" and that the armed forces only struck terror and military installations.India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 2025, in response to the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam region on April 22, that left 26 people dead. The operation, launched by the tri-services, targeted terror infrastructure located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Over 100 terrorists were killed in these strikes, according to the government.In the following days, the Indian armed forces hit back at Pakistan's attempted retaliatory strikes. On May 10, the Pakistani army reached out to its Indian counterpart, leading to a ceasefire understanding between the two neighbours.ALSO READ | 'I now respond': Indian envoy shreds Pakistan at UN over 'false' Operation Sindoor accountImmediately after the operation, as well, heavy speculations and social media chatter had claimed that India had struck the Mushaf Airbase in Sargodha, reportedly linked to underground nuclear storage beneath the Kirana Hills.However, the Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, had confirmed that the Indian armed forces did not target the nuclear facility at Kirana Hills. In response to a query regarding the facility during a press briefing, Bharti said, "Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation. We did not know about it. And we have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there.” Despite this clarification, speculations have continued to circulate. During a recent press conference, VCAS Kapoor acknowledged that India hit several Pakistani military installations. However, with regard to striking Kirana Hills, Kapoor said that the videos (of Kirana Hills) "were presented by their people; they made them; we did nothing"."We attacked terror infrastructure and several of their (Pakistan's) military installations. This is absolutely true. If you see any video, whether it's from open sources, or generated by them, or what they're trying to portray, we don't know," the Vice Air Chief Air Marshal said.ALSO READ | Operation Sindoor, prowess of India's defence system, displayed at Republic Day Parade 2026He also said that whether the armed forces "did something", or whether the explosion was caused by an insurgency there, or by what weapon, "we don't know about all this"."Whether we did something, or whether the explosion was caused by an insurgency there, or by what weapon, we don't know about all this. But these videos (of Kirana Hills) were presented by their people; they made them; we did nothing. We only struck terror and military installations," he added.Kirana Hills is a vast rocky mountain range located in the Sargodha district, under the designation of the ministry of defence of Pakistan The range, locally referred to as the "Black Mountains" due to its brownish terrain, stretches between the township of Rabwah and the city of Sargodha.