Closed Kazakhstan testing website is misrepresented as “Pakistan nuclear facility”
No photos of people wearing protective sex Gears appearing from the hillside tunnel have been shared in posts that falsely claim that they checked Pakistan’s Kirana Hills with our officials – a huge rocky mountain range Indian media said that Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal. These photos actually show visitors to Kazakhstan’s now closed Semipalatinsk nuclear testing website.
“Members of the U.S. Department of Energy were attacked by India near Mount Kirana in Pakistan,” One from On May 13, 2025, the label is “nuclear hole”.
Three images of the post show people wearing masks and protective gear that emerged from structures built into tunnels and landscapes that had cut into the side of the hill.
After India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on May 10, they were shared for four days of deadly fighter, missile, drone and artillery attack (nuclear weapons neighbors) (link to archive).
On April 22, 26 tourists, mainly Hindu men, attacked on one side of Kashmir, on April 22, and Delhi blamed Islamabad, the battle was hit. Pakistan denies any involvement and calls for an independent investigation.
Posts on social media claim Kirana Hills was attacked in the latest clashes, with articles on Indian news websites Also guess whether the location has been targeted.
Screenshot of False X Post, captured on June 10, 2025
Similar posts are shared elsewhere X.
But India denies that Pakistan’s nuclear facilities are targeted in the recent conflict between the two countries, Air Marshal AK Bharti told reporters that they “didn’t hit Kirana Hills” (a link to archive).
Islamabad’s foreign ministry dismissed media reports, accusing Pakistan’s nuclear facilities of compromise during the conflict, resulting in a radiation leak (archived link).
Moreover, in response to an inquiry from the Indian Express, the IAEA refuted reports of radiation leakage at any nuclear facility in Pakistan (archive link).
Closed Kazakhstan Testing Website
A reverse image search on Google found that the three images used in the error column were actually taken at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, with 456 nuclear tests conducted over 42 years until Kazakhstan closed the facility on August 29, 1991 (link to archive).
Photos of people wearing masks in the tunnel are from a blog in August 2012 titled “Visiting Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Website” (link to archive).
According to the biography of the blog poster, they are a nuclear engineer and use the platform to share their nuclear-themed travel experience.
Screenshots compare the wrong shared image (left) and photos posted in the August 2012 blog (right).
In a press release issued by the Kazakh government in 2021, the image of people walking out of the tunnel in protective equipment can be found in a photography exhibition dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (archive link).
Comparison of screenshots of error sharing images (left) and photos used in Kazakh government press releases (right)
The final image of the built-in structure in the landscape comes from ABC News, titled “Polygon: former Soviet nuclear test site, located on the Kazakh grasslands, now open for tours” (archived Link).
The image is titled “Underground bunker used to monitor Soviet-era nuclear tests.”
Comparison of screenshots of error sharing images (left) and ABC News Photos (right)
AFP has debunked other false claims related to the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
