NEW DELHI: Former director of naval operations and intelligence commodore Ranjit Rai (Retd.) on Tuesday said former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan’s remarks on Pakistan’s Kirana Hills indicated that Operation Sindoor was a “total success”, particularly highlighting India’s use of loitering munitions during the 87-hour military operation.Speaking to news agency ANI, Rai was reacting to Chauhan’s remarks that an Indian loitering munition deployed to search for radars in and around Sargodha in Pakistan “must have” hit an area in the Kirana Hills after failing to locate its intended target.“He made it absolutely clear that it was a total success (Operation Sindoor),” Rai told ANI. He said Chauhan had made it clear that during the 87-hour operation, loitering munitions were deployed and operated around Sargodha.Rai also pointed to the significance of Kirana Hills, located around 10 kilometres north of Sargodha.“He disclosed that during the operation, loitering munitions, which are drones, were used. They were loitering 10 miles from Sargodha; they had gone towards Sargodha, but 10 miles from Sargodha is the Khirana Hills. Pakistan has carried out some critical nuclear tests at the Khirana Hills. Underground in Kirana, they have got some nuclear facility. I mean, this is a revolution, telling the world about Operation Sindoor,” he said.Chauhan, speaking at the Vivekananda Centre in New Delhi on Tuesday, said India had sent loitering munitions towards Sargodha to search for radars in and around the area. He explained that the weapons had a flight time of around two hours and, if they failed to locate a target during that period, would eventually come down and hit an area.“I think I’ll clarify this…at occasions, it’s been asked whether Kirana Hills were hit or not, which is where their (Pakistan’s) nuclear facilities are… Before those strikes, we had sent in a lot of loitering munitions at Sargodha and Kirana Hills is about 10 kilometres north of Sargodha. So the loitering ammunition is looking for radars which are in and around Sargodha, and it has a lifetime, which means it will loiter for about two hours and once it does not find a target, it comes down and hits somewhere,” Chauhan said.“It must have come and hit one of those hills. So that could be one of the reasons as to what people asked, because Pakistani media also showed some kind of images in which there was smoke coming out from Kirana Hills,” he added.
What Chauhan said about Kirana Hills
Chauhan’s remarks clarified that Kirana Hills was not deliberately selected as a target during Operation Sindoor. Rather, according to his account, a loitering munition searching for radars around Sargodha may have struck one of the hills after failing to find its intended target.The comments also put his remarks in the context of an earlier statement by Air Marshal AK Bharti, who was director general of air operations during Operation Sindoor.On May 12, 2025, Bharti had rejected speculation that Indian forces had deliberately targeted Kirana Hills.“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,” Bharti had said.Chauhan similarly referred to the earlier statement and explained that the possible impact on Kirana Hills was linked to the operation of loitering munitions sent towards Sargodha.Operation Sindoor was launched by India following the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
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The Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK). As Pakistan sought to escalate the conflict, India also struck Pakistani airbases before Pakistan sought a ceasefire.Chauhan also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the military “complete freedom of action” before Operation Sindoor and told the armed forces to decide the timing of the operation while ensuring there was no scope for failure.The ex-CDS had said the Prime Minister told the military to act at its own time, ensure there was no reason for failure, maintain evidence of the actions taken and exercise “complete freedom of action.”
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