India hit Pak N-warheads depot Kirana Hills during Op Sindoor, claims OSINT expert
It is believed that reinforced caves within the mountains are one of the sites of where the Pakistani military stores its nuclear warhead."We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there. I did not brief in my briefing yesterday," said Air Marshal AK Bharti on May 12 responding to a question from a journalist during a tri-services briefing.Damien Symon shared Google Earth an image of Sargodha region of Pakistan that he claimed were from updated June 2025, saying that it showed the "impact location of India's strike on Kirana Hills in May 2025".
Symon is a geo-intelligence researcher and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) expert known for his work at The Intel Lab.He is widely recognised for analysing satellite imagery and publicly available data to verify or debunk claims related to conflict zones, particularly in the India-Pakistan region."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," Symon posted on X on July 18.A user asked Symon if the scar indicated it was a deep strike."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," replied Symon.Social media was abuzz with chatter on how Kirana Hills might have been hit in Operation Sindoor. Handles have shared images, videos and maps claiming a blast at the Kirana Hills in Sargodha.Videos showed dense plumes of smoke rising from the base of the rugged Kirana Hills. But high-resolution satellite imagery was absent.advertisementGeolocation by India Today's OSINT team placed the smoke near the hills, based on the footage posted on the day of the strikes.WHO IS OSINT EXPERT DAMIEN SYMON?Operating under the handle @detresfa on X, Symon has garnered attention for exposing disinformation, such as manipulated images and false claims by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) during India's Operation Sindoor in May 2025.His work includes confirming damage to Pakistani military installations, like the Sargodha airbase, and debunking fabricated narratives, such as doctored images of Indian airbases.Symon uses tools like LANDSAT, KawaSpace, and MazarVision imagery to provide verifiable evidence, contributing to discussions on digital disinformation and military transparency.WAS KIRANA HILLS HIT UNDER OPERATION SINDOOR?While the Mushaf airbase in Sargodha was confirmed as one of India's missile targets, Air Marshal Bharti denied reports of any strike on the facility at Kirana Hills.The two sites are barely seven kilometres apart.India carried out strikes on terror camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) on May 7 after Pakistani terrorists on April 22 killed 26 people in Kashmir's Pahalgam.After Pakistan targeted Indian military and civilian sites, India struck 11 military sites deep inside Pakistan, using precision weapons.advertisementThe targets included critical airbases in Rafiqui, Murid, Nur Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, and Sialkot, according to India's Ministry of Defence.The attack on Nur Khan military base near Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan's military establishment, is the most significant.The strike on Nur Khan airbase in Chaklala, near Rawalpindi, was significant as it lies in close proximity to the headquarters of the Strategic Plans Division, the body overseeing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.The New York Times quoted a former US official familiar with Pakistan's nuclear programme, noting, "Pakistan's deepest fear is of its nuclear command authority being decapitated. The missile strike on Nur Khan could have been interpreted... as a warning that India could do just that."Satellite imagery also indicated a strike on the runway of Mushaf airbase in Sargodha with loitering munitions. This base is reportedly linked to underground nuclear storage sites beneath the Kirana Hills.The strikes at Nur Khan and Sargodha were meant to indicate India's capability to neutralise Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in case of further escalation in the conflict.India called Pakistan's nuclear bluff with its attack during Op Sindoor.The target sites and videos on social media gave a boost to the buzz that Kirana Hills had been hit in an indicative attack, revealing India's strike capability. Though Indian military denied there was any attack, OSINT expert Damien Symon has now claimed that Google Earth images, updated in June, indicate Kirana Hills in Sargodha region were hit in a "warnig strike".- EndsMust Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
3 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Ajit Doval says dates for Putin's visit to India being worked out: Report
NSA Ajit Doval has said during his meetings in Moscow that dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India are being worked out, according to sources. No specific date or time has been indicated by the NSA in his engagements, they said on Thursday. "NSA Doval, during his visit to Moscow, has said that the dates for President Putin's visit to India are being worked out," said a source. The time of end-August being reported in some media is incorrect, the sources said. Doval held talks with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu and other senior officials that focused on bilateral energy and defence cooperation as well as Putin's visit to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had travelled to Russia twice last year for an annual summit with Putin and to attend the Brics Summit in Kazan. The Russian president is visiting India for the annual summit this year. Doval's visit to Russia comes amid some strain in ties between India and the US over New Delhi's continuing procurement of Russian crude oil, notwithstanding Western sanctions on Moscow. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order slapping an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods as a penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. The additional duties raised the overall tariff on India to 50 per cent. Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics. People familiar with Doval's visit to Moscow said bilateral energy and defence ties as well as Western sanctions on Russian crude oil figured in his talks with Russian officials. Russia has emerged as India's top energy supplier since the West slapped sanctions on its crude oil after the invasion of Ukraine. The NSA was also expected to press Moscow to ensure early delivery of remaining two regiments of S-400 air defence systems to India. The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India signed a $5.43 billion deal with Russia in 2018 for five squadrons of the S-400 Triumf missile system, a state-of-the-art air defence platform capable of engaging multiple aerial threats at long ranges. Three squadrons have already been delivered.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
3 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Trump tariff may cut chemical, apparel, jewellery exports by 50-70%: GTRI
The imposition of a 50 per cent US tariff on Indian goods will impact exports of nine product categories, including shrimp, organic chemicals, apparel, and jewellery by 50-70 per cent, think tank GTRI said on Thursday. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped an additional 25 per cent tariff, raising the total duties to 50 per cent on goods coming from India, as a penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. The 50 per cent duty will come into effect from August 27. This is on top of the usual US import duties, called Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs. This decision makes India one of the most heavily taxed US trading partners, worse off than China (30 per cent) or Vietnam (20 per cent), and on par with Brazil. GTRI, in its analysis, has categorised India's export segments in three categories- very high impact sectors (exports may be down by 50-70 per cent), high-impact sectors (exports may be down by 30-50 per cent), and low or no impact areas. In the first category, there are nine product categories - shrimp, organic chemicals, carpets, knitted and woven apparel, made-ups, diamonds, gold and jewellery, machinery and mechanical appliances, and furniture and bedding. The high-impact segment goods are steel, aluminium, copper, and auto parts. The last category items are pharmaceuticals, smartphones, and petroleum products, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. India exported $2 billion worth of shrimps to the US in FY2025, accounting for 9.52 per cent of total US shrimp imports. These now face a 50 per cent tariff, an antidumping duty and a countervailing duty of about 10 per cent. "India faces stiff competition from Canada (16.16 per cent share, zero tariff under USMCA) and Chile (15.02 per cent share, 10 per cent tariff). With such high duties, Indian shrimps risk losing significant ground to lower-taxed competitors like Chile," GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said. India exported $2.7 billion of organic chemicals to the US, holding a 5.11 per cent market share, and now faces a 54 per cent total tariff (4 per cent MFN + 50 per cent Trump tariff). In contrast, Ireland (36.11 per cent share) pays just 15 per cent, and Switzerland (6.46 per cent ) pays 39 per cent. "Indian chemical exporters will struggle to stay competitive against these low-tariff suppliers," he said, adding that India is the largest exporter of carpets to the US, with a 35.48 per cent market share and $1.2 billion in export value. He also said that with $10 billion in exports and a 13.63 per cent market share, this is India's top sector to the US, now facing 52.1 per cent duty (2.1 per cent MFN + 50 per cent). Switzerland (17.02 per cent) and Canada (10.44 per cent) pay lower duties -- 39 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively. Further, the country exported $6.7 billion in machinery, with a 6.79 per cent share of US imports. "Now facing a 51.3 per cent duty (1.3 per cent MFN + 50 per cent), India trails behind Mexico (19.92 per cent, zero tariffs), China (16.03 per cent, 30 per cent duty), and Taiwan (10 per cent, 15 per cent levy)," Srivastava said. "Top Indian firms include GE India, Bharat Forge, and JCB India. Tariffs could derail India's climb in advanced manufacturing exports," he noted.
NDTV
3 minutes ago
- NDTV
"In Australia, Media Made Us Villains": Gautam Adani On Queensland Coal Mine
Lucknow: In one of the most candid public reflections of his career, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani on Wednesday spoke at length about the storm of global criticism and coordinated resistance his group faced over the Carmichael coal project in Australia. Addressing faculty and students at the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow, the Adani Group Chairman described the decade-long battle to execute the controversial project as a defining test of resilience - one that transformed not just a company, but also an individual. "In Australia, the international media made us villains," Gautam Adani said, pausing for a moment before adding: "Banks walked away. Insurance companies refused to back us. Activists blocked roads. Legal cases were filed. We were accused in courtrooms, debated in parliaments, and criticised in headlines. Our people on the ground were harassed. Our right to exist on that land was questioned. Everywhere we turned, the message was clear: back down." He did not. Gautam Adani's account of the Carmichael mine saga was not an attempt to sanitise the project's environmental impact - a subject that continues to divide opinion. Instead, he framed it as a moral and strategic choice. Not a monument to coal, as critics alleged, but a monument to energy security. Not a commercial indulgence, but a national imperative. "It was not born out of ambition for coal," he said. "It was born out of a consequence to provide India with better-quality coal. It was born out of a consequence to reduce carbon emissions, as well as to secure India's energy independence." What made the project so politically fraught was its location and timing. Here was an Indian company entering one of the most stringently regulated democracies in the world, proposing to build one of its largest energy projects in the face of organised, transnational environmental opposition. "We had no political capital in Australia. No historical presence. No institutional support. And yet, we stood our ground," he said. Gautam Adani's remarks come at a moment when India's energy strategy is under renewed global scrutiny -- caught between pressure to accelerate its renewable transition and the enduring reality of its coal-dependent base load. His comments on the Australia episode served to illustrate a larger theme running through his speech: that bold leadership often invites resistance, and that conviction without comfort is a necessary condition for long-term impact. The Carmichael project, which began as an audacious bet, has since evolved into a critical Indo-Australian corridor - both economic and strategic. The Adani Group chief said the project now powers industries with cleaner coal, supports thousands of livelihoods in Australia and stands as a testament to the company's refusal to capitulate to external pressure. He described it as not a story of fossil fuel but a story of endurance. The speech, delivered with precision and emotional clarity, marked a departure from traditional business school lectures. There were no slides, no charts and no hedging. Instead, Gautam Adani offered an unscripted personal philosophy rooted in risk, belief and defiance. He told the students that business frameworks alone cannot shape the future. The future, he said, is built by those who are willing to draw maps where none exist - even if the world pushes back. This defiance was not positioned as corporate bravado. It was set in the context of larger, harder questions - about leadership in a world where the line between global governance and ideological activism is increasingly blurred - about the asserted right of emerging economies to pursue development on their terms - and about the heavy personal toll that long-term vision often demands. Throughout his address, Gautam Adani returned to the idea that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary determination and persistence. "The easy road rarely builds lives worth remembering," he told the students. "It is the bold path - the one filled with risk and resistance - that shapes leaders the world remembers." His account of Australia was also a cautionary tale - a reminder that disruption is rarely celebrated in the present. Often, it is only in retrospect that such choices are seen for what they were: acts of imagination, of courage and of nation-building. As he closed his remarks, the Adani Group Chairman made no attempt to portray the past as perfect or the future as predictable. Instead, he invited the students to confront discomfort, to welcome difficulty and to understand that greatness is not the absence of struggle, but the mastery of it. "Let your journey be the evidence", he said, "that dreams rooted in Indian soil can stand firm, even when the world tries to push them down."
