Just a warning strike…: Missile impact visible at Pakistan’s Kirana Hills in new satellite images

Two months after the Indian government publicly denied targeting Kirana Hills during its May 2025 military operation against Pakistan, satellite images tell a different story. Captured by Google Earth in June and analysed by satellite imagery expert Damien Symon, the visuals appear to show clear signs of a missile impact in the Kirana region, located in Pakistan’s Sargodha district, as reported by TOI.

Symon shared the imagery on X, stating, “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.”

These new visuals have reignited a sensitive debate. Not just because of the suspected damage, but because of what Kirana Hills is believed to contain.

The strike that was denied

Operation Sindoor was launched on the night of 9 May following a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that left 26 tourists dead. The Indian Air Force targeted key military infrastructure across Pakistan using around 15 BrahMos missiles and other precision-guided weapons.

The official line from Delhi was firm: no strike was conducted on Kirana Hills.

At a press conference on 12 May, Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, responded to a direct question about the Kirana site, “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 brief in my briefing yesterday.”

That statement, however, came with a half-smile. It went viral, sparking widespread speculation over whether the denial was genuine or tactical.

What satellite images actually show

Damien Symon’s analysis adds weight to the doubts. The imagery shows what appears to be an impact zone on one side of the hill, though not deep enough to suggest an underground strike. Symon clarified this in response to a question on X, “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.”

Alongside this, the images also reveal repaired runways at the nearby Sargodha airbase, now known as Mushaf airbase. This points to the airbase being hit during the operation, and its rapid restoration suggests high strategic priority.

Why Kirana Hills matters

Kirana is not a typical military site. The region is closely tied to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme. Reports and expert assessments suggest it houses underground storage facilities and was used in the 1980s for subcritical nuclear testing. The area is also dotted with radar installations and military tunnels.

Its location, close to the Sargodha airbase, adds another layer of strategic significance. That’s why even the suggestion of an Indian strike on this area carries weight far beyond a regular border skirmish.

Despite mounting visual evidence, there has been no official word from Pakistan. The Indian Air Force, too, has held to its earlier denial. But the satellite pictures have been circulating widely, fuelling renewed interest in what exactly happened on the night of the strikes.

Symon, known for providing independent assessments, also played a role earlier in debunking Pakistan’s claim that it had hit India’s Adampur airbase. At the time, Pakistani media claimed a Su-30MKI had been damaged and an S-400 system destroyed. Symon countered this by sharing images from March 2025 showing a MiG-29 undergoing routine maintenance, long before the conflict.

To put the matter to rest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi later visited Adampur and posed with security forces in front of a fully operational S-400 battery. The message was clear.

India’s Operation Sindoor reportedly damaged 11 out of 13 major Pakistani airbases. That scale of success likely took Pakistan by surprise. Satellite data now appears to confirm damage at both Kirana Hills and Sargodha airbase, despite official denials.

It’s also worth noting that shortly after the strikes, backchannel military talks were reportedly initiated at the DGMO level. Observers say this may have been a direct result of the extent of damage and the risk of escalation.

While the Indian and Pakistani governments maintain their respective public positions, open-source intelligence is slowly filling in the blanks. For now, the silence from both sides speaks as loudly as the imagery itself.