Did India strike Pakistan’s nuclear nerve centre? Why the Kirana Hills claim has rattled Asim Munir

Kirana Hills is widely regarded by analysts as one of Pakistan’s most sensitive strategic zones. It is believed to house underground facilities linked to nuclear storage.

A controversy erupted after analyst Tom Cooper claimed India struck Pakistan’s sensitive Kirana Hills, linked to its nuclear program. India denied the strike, but the claim raised concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear vulnerability and deterrence credibility.

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A sharp new controversy has erupted over Operation Sindoor after aviation historian and military analyst Tom Cooper claimed that India struck Kirana Hills, a zone long associated with Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking to NDTV, Cooper said the strike was deliberate, calculated and symbolic, meant to send a strategic warning rather than trigger uncontrolled escalation. His remarks have placed renewed scrutiny on Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure and the opacity that surrounds it.

Indian Air Force officials have denied hitting Kirana Hills. Pakistan, predictably, has remained defensive. But the episode has exposed deeper questions about the vulnerability of Pakistan’s nuclear ecosystem and the credibility of its deterrence posture.

What Tom Cooper claimed and why it matters

Cooper argued that the strike profile, timing and target selection were consistent with a message operation aimed at Pakistan’s strategic nerve centre.

“It’s a place you hit when you want to send a clear message without causing, let’s put it this way, too much damage. It means, ‘Listen, guys in Pakistan, we can hit you severely where we want, whenever we want, with as much ammunition as we want. Stop it, finally’,” Cooper told NDTV.

Asked about evidence, Cooper pointed to videos circulating online that appeared to show missile contrails descending onto the Kirana Hills area. He also cited smoke rising from what he described as a radar installation linked to the 4091st Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force, suggesting a military rather than civilian impact.

If accurate, the claim undermines Pakistan’s long-held assumption that its nuclear-linked zones remain immune from conventional precision strikes.

India’s official denial

At a press briefing on May 12, AK Bharti, Director General of Air Operations, rejected the assertion outright.

“Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills. I did not say so in my briefing,” Air Marshal Bharti said.

The carefully worded response avoided confirming or denying intelligence awareness of the site’s role, but the statement did little to calm speculation, especially given Pakistan’s long-standing secrecy around Kirana.

Why Kirana Hills is sensitive

Kirana Hills is widely regarded by analysts as one of Pakistan’s most sensitive strategic zones. It is believed to house underground facilities linked to nuclear storage and research and has reportedly been used for subcritical nuclear tests in the 1980s.

Pakistan has never officially acknowledged the site’s purpose, but its proximity to Sargodha, a hub for strategic air and missile units, has long fuelled assessments that Kirana forms part of Pakistan’s nuclear backbone.

That secrecy is part of Pakistan’s broader nuclear posture, which relies heavily on ambiguity, dispersion and denial rather than transparency or confidence-building.

Inside Pakistan’s nuclear machinery

Pakistan’s nuclear programme is overseen by the National Command Authority, with technical control exercised through the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and Kahuta Research Laboratories.

Uranium enrichment is centred at Kahuta in Punjab, using gas centrifuge technology derived from the AQ Khan network. Research reactors and development facilities operate at Nilore near Islamabad.

Plutonium production occurs at the Khushab Nuclear Complex, where heavy-water reactors generate weapons-grade material. Reprocessing is conducted at facilities near Rawalpindi. Civilian nuclear power plants operate at Chashma and Karachi under international safeguards, largely with Chinese assistance.

Pakistan sources uranium domestically from mines in Dera Ghazi Khan and Baghalchur, enriching it internally and producing plutonium through Khushab. This closed-loop system has allowed Pakistan to steadily expand its arsenal despite sanctions and international pressure.

Storage, missiles and delivery systems

Warheads are believed to be stored separately from delivery systems in peacetime. Frequently cited locations include Sargodha, Masroor Air Base near Karachi, and Kamra Air Base.

Missile operations are handled by the Army Strategic Forces Command, with deployments in regions such as Sargodha, Gujranwala, Khuzdar and Pano Aqil. These areas are associated with Shaheen and Ghauri ballistic missiles and the Nasr tactical nuclear system.

Pakistan’s air force maintains nuclear delivery capability using F-16s and JF-17s, dispersed across multiple bases. Unlike India, Pakistan does not possess nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, relying instead on a nascent sea-based deterrent built around the Babur-3 cruise missile.

Pakistan versus India: the nuclear balance

According to early 2025 estimates by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Pakistan possesses roughly 170 nuclear weapons. Open-source assessments suggest it may be producing fissile material for 10 to 27 warheads annually.

India, by comparison, holds about 180 nuclear weapons and maintains a more diversified and survivable triad, including land-based Agni missiles, air-delivered systems, and sea-based deterrence through the INS Arihant-class SSBNs.

India’s programme is widely viewed as more restrained, structured and stable. Pakistan’s, by contrast, is characterised by rapid expansion, tactical nuclear weapons and forward deployment concepts that lower the nuclear threshold.

Why the claim unnerves Pakistan

Whether or not Kirana Hills was struck, the very plausibility of the claim is damaging for Pakistan. It reinforces the perception that India can penetrate deep into Pakistan’s strategic geography with precision and restraint.

For a country that relies heavily on nuclear brinkmanship to compensate for conventional inferiority, even the suggestion that its nuclear-linked zones are vulnerable is a strategic setback.