# Ex-CDS says munition likely hit Pakistan’s Kirana Hills by mistake 2026-08-26T06:33:19+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said an Indian loitering munition may have struck Pakistan's Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor after it failed to locate radars near Sargodha and ran out of fuel. Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Chauhan stressed the area was not deliberately targeted. Retired commodore Ranjit Rai backed the remarks, calling Operation Sindoor a 'total success' for the use of loitering munitions. Chauhan explained the drone had a two-hour flight time and, if it found no target, would come down and hit an area. Kirana Hills lies about 10 km north of Sargodha. Pakistan media had shown images of smoke from the hills. Former air marshal AK Bharti had earlier said the hills were not targeted. Chauhan also disclosed the IAF had clearance to strike Skardu but called it off due to bad weather, redirecting to Bholari. Operation Sindoor followed the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The two sources converge on the core fact: former CDS Chauhan said a loitering munition may have inadvertently struck Pakistan's Kirana Hills after failing to find a radar target near Sargodha. The Times of India frames this as Chauhan asserting Operation Sindoor's ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 pro-government, 1 neutral - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (pro government) Leads with a retired officer calling the operation a 'total success', foregrounding the military achievement framing - telanganatoday.com (neutral report) Leads with the accidental strike itself and includes detail on Skardu cancellation, giving a more operational-neutral account This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-26T08:25:19+00:00. Tags: Anil Chauhan, Kirana Hills, Operation Sindoor, Pakistan, Sargodha Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/ex-navy-officer-backs-former-cds-on-kirana-hills-remarks/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/ex-navy-officer-backs-former-cds-on-kirana-hills-remarks/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/