Fact Check: Kirana Hills in Pakistan explodes during Operation Sindoor leading to radiation leak? No, here are the facts
A video claiming to show an explosion at Kirana Hills, Pakistan, during India’s “Operation Sindoor” with radiation leaks has gone viral on social media.
By M Ramesh Naik
Claim:A video allegedly shows an explosion at Kirana Hills in Pakistan following India’s Operation Sindoor, with claims of radiation leaks due to the blast.
Fact:The claim is false. The video depicts an explosion in Sanaa, Yemen, from 2015, unrelated to India, Pakistan, or any operation involving Kirana Hills.
Hyderabad: A video showing a massive explosion with a bright fireball illuminating the sky over a residential area has gone viral on social media. The footage captures the dramatic blast against a backdrop of buildings and a mountainous landscape, causing widespread alarm among viewers.
The video is being shared with the claim that it depicts an explosion at Kirana Hills in Pakistan, allegedly caused by India’s Operation Sindoor—retaliation against the terrorist attack at Pahalgam on April 22—with additional assertions of radiation leaks following the blast.
An X user posted the video on May 16, with a caption stating, “Kirana Hills Pakistan (Radiation Risk).” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video does not show an explosion at Kirana Hills, nor is it related to any Indian operation or radiation leaks. Instead, it is from 2015 and depicts an airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen.
Firstly, we did not find any credible news reports or social media posts about an explosion at Kirana Hills in Pakistan. A Times of India report dated May 16, 2025, citing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated, “There have been no reports of any radiation leaks from any nuclear facility in Pakistan.” This directly refutes the viral claim of radiation leaks.
Another report by Hindustan Times stated that the Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, confirmed that the Indian armed forces did not target the nuclear facility at Kirana Hills in Pakistan.
Using a reverse image search on keyframes from the viral video, we traced the footage to a Dailymotion video uploaded on September 13, 2015, titled ‘LiveLeak Another Massive Explosion and Shockwave in Sana'a, Yemen.’
The visuals in the Dailymotion clip, including the residential buildings and mountainous background, match the viral video exactly. The 2015 upload predates any recent India-Pakistan tensions by a decade.
Using these clues, we found a report from The World, published on September 13, 2015, titled ‘I wake to the sound of explosions.’ The report described the ongoing Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, highlighting the frequent and intense explosions rocking the city, including one that woke the reporter with a massive blast.
Although we couldn’t find the exact source of the video, since it predates the recent border conflict between India and Pakistan, NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.
