The importance of Kirana Hills for Pakistan can be gauged from the fact that infrastructure was developed here for the storage of nuclear weapons and the development of launching systems.
Kirana Hills, which is in Pakistan’s Punjab, has hogged the limelight as New Delhi and Islamabad went to the brink of war in the wake of India’s Operation Sindoor. Under Operation Sindoor, the Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan as well as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Pakistan retaliated to India’s strikes on terror by attacking civilian and military targets in India. India upped the escalation ladder by decimating 11 airbases in Pakistan, which implies significant destruction to the Pakistan Air Force’s infrastructure.
Amid Indian attacks on Pakistani airbases, Kirana Hills has found itself in discourse with claims that it has become one of the targets of India’s retaliatory measures against Pakistan. However, the Indian Air Force, represented by AK Bharti, in the DGMO’s press conference, abjectly rejected the claim, asserting India did not attack the location in question.
Where is Kirana Hills?
Kirana Hills, located in Pakistan’s Punjab, has long been linked to Islamabad’s nuclear programme. Reports claim that Pakistan uses the location to bolster its nuclear facility as well as to store its nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan created bunkers and underground tunnels in the 1980s, which have been used to hide Pakistan’s nukes, reports further suggest.
The Area 51 analogy
Since Pakistan refrains from making any information public about the Kirana Hills, the location is dubbed ‘Area 51’, which is the USA’s most secure secret infrastructure. Area 51, in general parlance, gets associated with several activities, including space research, with the US hiding UFOs and aliens. The claims, however, are yet to be substantiated with proof.
The importance of Kirana Hills for Pakistan can be gauged from the fact that infrastructure was developed here for the storage of nuclear weapons and the development of launching systems.
PM Modi debunks Pakistan’s nuclear threat
The area epitomises Pakistan’s obsession with nuclear power, which it often employs as part of the strategy of nuclear blackmail against India.
In his first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Monday sternly warned Pakistan that India will not succumb to nuclear blackmail and sent a clear message to the world: terror and trade, terror and talks cannot go together.
