But the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has said it has confirmed the killing of 6,301 people, including 5,925 protesters, 112 children, 50 bystanders and 214 affiliated with the government. It is also investigating reports of 17,091 more deaths.

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‘No space to lie down’

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‘All types of torture’

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Testimony and allegations

Families’ questions

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Detainees ‘still held’

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The early warnings

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Covid Inquiry

Controlling Covid and protecting the economy

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Second national lockdown

Lessons learnt

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Unverified but persistent reports emanating from Indian media and social media platforms are stirring serious geopolitical unease across South Asia. According to these sources, India may have conducted a precision strike—possibly involving cruise missiles—on the heavily fortified Kirana Hills region in Pakistan’s Sargodha district, a zone long suspected of housing critical elements of Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program.

Codenamed “Operation Sindoor,” the alleged Indian offensive is said to have targeted subterranean facilities used for nuclear research or storage. Some sources claim the attack caused a severe radioactive leak, a charge that—if true—could amount to one of the most daring military gambits in recent Indo-Pakistani history. However, in the absence of official confirmation from either India or Pakistan, and no statements yet from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the truth remains shrouded in silence, and potentially, in secrecy.

The Kirana Hills have always been a mystery cloaked in strategic importance. Situated in Pakistan’s Punjab province, roughly 20 kilometers from the Mushaf Airbase in Sargodha, the area is isolated, topographically rugged, and historically sealed off from public view. This geographic seclusion made it the perfect site for Pakistan’s earliest “cold tests”—non-explosive nuclear device experiments—under the supervision of the late Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan in the 1980s and 1990s.

These subcritical tests were key milestones in Pakistan’s path to nuclear capability. Though they produced no nuclear yield, they validated the architecture and implosion mechanisms of early bomb designs, providing Pakistan with a functional deterrent long before the dramatic 1998 Chagai-I nuclear detonations.

 

Analysts and intelligence experts have long suspected that Kirana’s underground bunkers may still serve critical roles in Pakistan’s Strategic Plans Division (SPD) infrastructure—whether as storage sites, testing facilities, or command nodes.

The existence of “Operation Sindoor” remains unverified. According to several Indian outlets and defense analysts close to government circles, the strike was authorized following a recent escalation of cross-border tensions in Kashmir, allegedly triggered by Pakistan-backed infiltrations. Some suggest the operation was a calculated “non-nuclear decapitation strike,” aimed not at provoking a war but at undermining Pakistan’s strategic deterrence posture.

The details are fuzzy. Claims range from the use of BrahMos cruise missiles to more exotic technologies like low-yield penetrator warheads. One widely circulated theory holds that Indian forces struck just one underground facility suspected of housing enriched fissile material or a command and control unit—a move potentially designed to test Islamabad’s threshold for nuclear retaliation.

Pakistan’s silence, so far, is deafening. There has been no acknowledgement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, nor from civilian leadership. The absence of fiery rhetoric—typical in previous Indo-Pak flareups—has only deepened suspicion that something highly classified may have occurred.

Perhaps the most compelling circumstantial evidence of a nuclear-related incident came not from South Asia, but from the skies.

Shortly after the alleged strike, open-source flight trackers spotted a U.S. Department of Energy aircraft, a Beechcraft B350 “Aerial Measuring System” (AMS), traversing Pakistani airspace. Tail-numbered N111SZ, the aircraft is no ordinary government plane. It is equipped with advanced gamma radiation sensors, isotopic signature mappers, and real-time telemetry systems. Its primary function? To detect, track, and map radiation releases—whether from nuclear accidents, bomb detonations, or covert facility leaks.

The AMS has historically been deployed in the aftermath of major nuclear events such as the Fukushima disaster and during U.S. homeland drills. Its appearance over Pakistan, unannounced and unexplained, suggests U.S. agencies may have been quietly monitoring radiation levels in the region—an act almost impossible to justify unless there was a reason to believe something radioactive had occurred.

 

In a parallel development, another suspicious aircraft was detected by global aviation watchdogs. An Egyptian Air Force Ilyushin IL-76 cargo plane, operating under callsign EGY1916, was tracked making an unusual route: from China to Murree, a remote hill town in Pakistan, and then to the United Arab Emirates.

While official channels offered no explanation, open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts floated a provocative hypothesis—the IL-76 may have been involved in an emergency containment mission. Speculation suggests it was ferrying boron-based compounds, such as boric acid or boron carbide, substances essential in nuclear radiation suppression efforts.

Boron, particularly its isotope Boron-10, is a neutron absorber commonly used in nuclear reactors and accident mitigation. It was famously deployed during the Chernobyl and Fukushima crises to suppress chain reactions and limit contamination. The sudden presence of an IL-76 near potential nuclear infrastructure—combined with rumors of a radioactive leak—fuels suspicion of a covert clean-up.

The geopolitical silence following these incidents is both eerie and telling. Usually, even small skirmishes along the Line of Control (LoC) provoke rapid-fire accusations, press briefings, and diplomatic posturing. In this case, neither India nor Pakistan has broken the silence. Washington and Beijing are also conspicuously tight-lipped, while the IAEA has not commented on any monitoring anomalies in Pakistan.

Veteran nuclear policy analyst Dr. Laila Rahman of the South Asia Institute in London suggests this may reflect “a behind-the-scenes crisis management effort among major powers.”

“If radiation was indeed released and detected internationally,” she says, “we may be witnessing one of the rare moments when global actors are quietly coordinating to avoid a diplomatic or strategic collapse.”

If Operation Sindoor did occur and targeted a nuclear facility—even one inactive or lightly manned—it raises serious questions about the evolving nature of deterrence in South Asia. The idea of a “non-nuclear strike on nuclear targets” is dangerously destabilizing. It suggests a new doctrine may be emerging in New Delhi: one that doesn’t see Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure as off-limits.

Retired Indian General Prakash Menon, speaking at a closed-door seminar in New Delhi, reportedly remarked that “nuclear sanctuaries can no longer be considered untouchable if they’re being used to shield adventurism.”

 

Conversely, Islamabad’s lack of retaliation—or even acknowledgement—may signal an implicit recognition of vulnerability, or a strategic decision to contain the fallout politically rather than militarily.

The Strategic Plans Division (SPD) is the nerve center of Pakistan’s nuclear command, tasked with the security, development, and deployment of its atomic arsenal. Its headquarters, located at the Noor Khan Airbase near Islamabad, ensures real-time communications with nuclear delivery platforms—including air, sea, and land-based systems.

Nearby Mushaf Airbase, home to Pakistan’s elite F-16 squadrons, is believed to be one of the operational hubs for nuclear-capable aircraft. A successful strike anywhere within the radius of these facilities would mark a serious intelligence breach and a blow to Pakistan’s second-strike credibility.

Strangely, both Pakistani and Indian mainstream media outlets have largely tiptoed around the story. Coverage has been limited to editorials and vague online debates. Pakistani television channels, known for their combative talk shows, have avoided the topic entirely. The digital vacuum has given rise to wild speculation on platforms like Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram—where amateur analysts and former military officers trade unverified maps, infrared overlays, and intercepted chatter.

This media restraint could be due to direct censorship, or because even seasoned journalists are unsure of what actually transpired.

Whether or not a missile actually struck Kirana Hills, and whether radiation truly escaped into the environment, the rumors alone have opened a Pandora’s box. South Asia’s nuclear peace has always been precarious, held together by opaque doctrines, ambiguous red lines, and unspoken understandings. If the events of the past weeks are even partially true, that unspoken contract may have just been torn.

And yet, without official confirmation, the world is left to parse shadows: the path of a radiation-tracking plane, the flight log of an Egyptian cargo jet, and the sudden, eerie silence from two of the world’s most adversarial neighbors.

Until someone speaks—and someone will—the Kirana Hills episode will remain what it is now: a ghost story with radioactive consequences.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida: The 25 newcomers to The Players Championship probably won’t take much solace in hearing that only one player — Craig Perks in 2002 — has conquered the diabolical Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass in his debut over the last four decades.

Just as curious is the case of Scottie Scheffler. Last year he became the first player in the history of this championship to win in consecutive years.

Tiger Woods for all his greatness won it only twice. Phil Mickelson won in 2007 and some eight years later after missing the cut said, “I can’t believe I’ve actually won here.”

The PGA Tour’s premier event — it has been referred to as the “fifth major” — begins Thursday with the same level of intrigue. There are great players. There are players in great form. But anything goes over the next four days.

The secret to Sawgrass?

“Playing good,” said Scheffler, who last year had to make up a five-shot deficit with a sore neck by holing out for eagle on the fourth hole on his way to a 64.

“You can’t fake it around this place,” Scheffler said. “I think there’s a lot of genius in the way the golf course is designed. There is some volatility in terms of the hazard. That provides a lot of volatility for how the golf course can play, especially in high wind.

“It doesn’t suit one type of player,” he said. “It’s not a horses-for-courses-type place. It’s just the guys that are playing the best are going to be on the leaderboard on Sunday.”

That sounds simple enough, thought that requires a view of Perks in 2002. He played great that week — turns out it was his only PGA Tour victory — but had to chip in for eagle from the edge of the 16th green, hole a long birdie putt on the 17th and then chip in for par on the 18th.

Simple.

If the island green at the par-3 17th, or water in play on all but a handful of holes isn’t enough, the PGA Tour restored the tree that hung sideways over the tee box on No. 6 that frames the shot and gives players one more thing to think about.

“I certainly have to hit it a little lower than my preferred launch window,” Rory McIlroy said.

McIlroy won in 2019 and he has three other top-10 finishes. He also has missed the cut seven times, keeping in form of other past champions.

“You just have to be so on your game here,” McIlroy said. “I think that’s the main key. It’s such a course on execution, and if you’re not executing like 100 percent, you leave yourself in spots where it’s really tough to get up-and-down. You have to hit the ball where you’re looking, and if you can do that, you can do well here.

“It’s one of the best tests of the year, for sure.”

Among the newcomers this year is Laurie Canter of England, who got plenty of attention Wednesday during the first-timer interviews because he spent parts of three years cashing in at Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

Canter was an alternate who was never in trouble with the European tour because he had limited status. And then he played beautifully enough to work his way into the top 50 in the world, the final push a runner-up finish in the South African Open.

Six others have won for the first time in the last year, three of them in 2025 — Brian Campbell (Mexico), Joe Highsmith (PGA National) and Karl Vilips (Puerto Rico).

Scheffler has a chance to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winners of The Players Championship. Nicklaus won his three before it moved to the TPC Sawgrass in 1982.

The Masters champion is still waiting to hit his stride after sitting out all of January with a hand injury from trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass.

But he has been on an amazing run, capped off by his nine-win season in 2025, winning back-to-back at The Players and building such a big lead at No. 1 in the world that he is assured of being atop the ranking for two straight years. No one except Woods has done that.

“Scottie is the closest thing to Tiger I think any of us have seen,” Wyndham Clark said. “He not only is the No. 1 player in the world, he embraces it, and he shows up every week and almost wins or is in contention or does win. It’s very impressive.

“I think he’s kind of the mark we’re all trying to get to, and I have nothing but respect for everything that Scottie is doing, and I love that it doesn’t affect him,” Clark said. “It hasn’t gone to his head. He just continues to be Scottie and goes about his way.”

Newly analyzed satellite images have revealed that North Korean troops, who were deployed to Russia last year to aid in its war against Ukraine, took a clandestine sea route to reach a remote Russian military base. The discovery, made by researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, confirms long-standing suspicions about the secretive nature of the North Korea-Russia military cooperation.

According to the analysis shared with CNN, at least two Russian naval vessels transported North Korean troops to a military port in Dunai, a secluded area in Russia’s Far East, in October and November 2024. These covert movements align with previous intelligence reports from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), which had speculated about North Korean forces arriving via Russian warships from port towns like Chongjin, Hamhung, and Musudan. However, at the time, South Korean officials had little concrete evidence beyond a blurry radar image.

Secretive Transfers Under the Cover of Darkness

The new satellite imagery now provides substantial proof that North Korean troops were transported discreetly, avoiding major ports like Vladivostok in favor of Dunai, a less scrutinized military base.

“I don’t think that the Russians or the North Koreans want these transfers caught on camera,” said Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. “The secrecy element is quite remarkable.”

Lair and his team identified Ropucha and Alligator-class Russian landing ships as the primary vessels used for transporting the North Korean forces. These ships, capable of carrying up to 400 soldiers per trip, were identified by comparing satellite images with previously documented photos from the Japanese Defense Ministry in March 2022, when the same ships were seen passing through Japanese waters.

To maintain secrecy, North Korean troops likely boarded the ships at night, making it nearly impossible to capture clear visual evidence of their departure. However, the situation in Dunai was different—satellite images captured movements at the Russian military port, where it seems the authorities were less cautious in hiding the troops’ arrival.

Unlike Vladivostok, which is a densely populated civilian port, Dunai is a secure military base, making it a strategically advantageous location for receiving and relocating North Korean forces without public or media scrutiny.

Where Are the North Korean Troops Stationed?

Following their arrival, the South Korean NIS published satellite images in October 2024, revealing that North Korean troops were stationed at multiple military facilities across Russia’s Far East:

• Sergeevka training ground in Primorsky Krai (near Vladivostok)
• A military base in Ussuriysk
• A military facility in Khabarovsk

The images, taken on October 16, 2024, showed at least 400 North Korean soldiers in Ussuriysk and 240 soldiers training in Khabarovsk.

Heavy Losses on the Battlefield

Despite their training and preparation, North Korean troops have suffered severe casualties in combat. The South Korean NIS reported on February 27, 2025, that North Korea has continued sending reinforcements to Russia due to high fatality rates among its deployed forces.

Originally, intelligence estimated that 1,500 North Korean troops were sent to Russia. However, this number has since swelled to over 12,000 and continues to increase, despite significant losses on the battlefield.

According to Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, over 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed so far. If accurate, this would mean that nearly one-third of all deployed North Korean troops have perished.

A major factor contributing to their heavy casualties is Russia’s tactical misuse of these soldiers.

“The North Korean military personnel fighting in the Kursk region are being used for frontal assaults without much military support such as artillery, armor, and drones, against some of the very best Ukrainian forces,” said Bruce Bennett, senior defense researcher at the Rand Corporation, in an interview with VOA.

Bennett noted that North Korean soldiers were trained for special operations, infiltration, and sabotage, rather than conventional large-scale frontal assaults. Their lack of proper adaptation to modern drone warfare and artillery-heavy battles has made them particularly vulnerable.

North Korean Troops Face Language Barriers and Tactical Disadvantages

One of the most significant challenges for North Korean troops fighting in Russia is the language barrier.

A UK intelligence report previously assessed that “Russia and DPRK forces are almost certainly experiencing interoperability difficulties. The two forces do not share a common language, and DPRK troops almost certainly have difficulties integrating into Russia’s command-and-control structure.” This lack of coordination has further weakened the North Korean forces on the battlefield.

Social media platforms have been flooded with videos of North Korean troops being ambushed by Ukrainian forces, who have superior battlefield awareness and communication.

Elite Storm Corps Suffer Heavy Losses

A significant portion of the North Korean forces deployed to Russia belong to the Storm Corps, also known as the 11th Corps of the Korean People’s Army. This is North Korea’s elite special forces unit, trained in guerrilla warfare, assassination missions, and infiltration tactics.

However, instead of utilizing their special operations expertise, Russian commanders have deployed them as conventional infantry units for trench warfare and urban combat, which has led to massive losses.

Ukrainian forces, aware of this tactical misstep, have deliberately used combined arms strategies, drones, and artillery barrages to inflict maximum casualties on the North Korean soldiers.

Russia-North Korea Military Alliance Raises Global Concerns

Beyond the deployment of troops, North Korea has also supplied arms and ammunition to Russia in recent months. Western officials fear that, in exchange, Russia might provide Pyongyang with advanced military technology, including missile guidance systems and nuclear advancements.

The United States, South Korea, and their allies are deeply concerned that these technological exchanges could significantly enhance North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, further destabilizing the Korean Peninsula.

What’s Next for North Korean Troops in Russia?

Despite the heavy losses, North Korea appears committed to continuing its military support for Russia. For Pyongyang, the war in Ukraine presents a rare opportunity to gain real-world combat experience, which could strengthen its military capabilities in a potential future conflict with South Korea and the United States.

However, Kim Jong Un faces a dilemma. If casualties continue at this rate, domestic pressure in North Korea could mount, especially among the families of the fallen soldiers. While Kim’s regime exercises totalitarian control, the loss of thousands of trained special forces soldiers could weaken North Korea’s military readiness in the long run.

For now, the world watches closely as Russia and North Korea deepen their military ties—a partnership shrouded in secrecy but with potentially far-reaching consequences for global security.

The newly revealed satellite images provide the most concrete evidence to date that North Korea has secretly deployed troops to Russia using a covert maritime route. As the war in Ukraine continues, North Korea’s involvement in direct combat poses serious risks—both for its soldiers on the battlefield and for the global balance of power.

With thousands of North Korean troops already dead, the question remains: How long can Pyongyang sustain this military support before the cost becomes too high?