Former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan said an Indian drone may have unintentionally struck Pakistan's Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor [1].
The revelation clarifies the nature of an engagement near a sensitive Pakistani nuclear site, distinguishing between deliberate military targeting and accidental impact.
Operation Sindoor took place in May 2025 [5]. The military operation lasted 88 hours [1], with the Indian government receiving a cease-fire request from Pakistan on 10 May 2025 [2].
Chauhan said the primary objective of the operation was to destroy enemy camps and Pakistani air-defence radars [1]. To achieve this, India deployed loitering munitions toward Sargodha to search for and destroy active radar installations [1]. These specific munitions are capable of remaining airborne for approximately two hours [3].
While the missions in Sargodha were intentional, the incident at Kirana Hills was different. Chauhan said a drone running low on fuel struck the Kirana Hills [4]. This impact was not a deliberate attempt to target the nuclear infrastructure located in the area [1].
Reports on the incident vary regarding the certainty of the strike. Some accounts suggest the drone hit the hills after running out of fuel [4], while other summaries indicate India may have hit the area unintentionally [1]. However, the consensus among the provided accounts is that the site was not a planned target [1].
“India did not deliberately target the nuclear infrastructure at Kirana Hills.”
The distinction between a planned strike on air-defence radars in Sargodha and an accidental impact at Kirana Hills is critical for diplomatic stability. By framing the Kirana Hills incident as a fuel-related accident rather than a deliberate attack on a nuclear-linked site, the Indian military leadership aims to mitigate the risk of escalation while still asserting the operational reach of its loitering munitions.
