Why Chagai Was Chosen: The Hidden Story Behind Pakistan’s Nuclear Tests

From the Hijacking of the PIA Plane to the Chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ in Chaghi: When the Black Granite of the Chaghi Mountain Turned White

"To India!" the hijacker screamed, pressing a pistol to the pilot’s temple.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Flight 544 had taken off from the city of Turbat in Balochistan just ten minutes earlier when this threatening voice reached the pilot’s ears.

The Fokker aircraft had departed from Turbat and was en route to Karachi, a city in the Sindh province.

According to the pilot, Uzair Khan, the moment the hijacker was distracted by a noise from the rear of the aircraft, he pressed a button that sent a signal to radar indicating that the passenger plane had been hijacked.

Later, in the documentary "Flight 544," Uzair Khan explained, “The hijacker had brought maps and such. He told me to keep flying straight. Flying straight would have eventually brought us to the Indian border.”

“I told him that the aircraft didn’t have enough fuel. He accepted my request and said we should refuel at Bhuj Airport in Indian Gujarat and then fly to New Delhi.”

He adds that after receiving these instructions, “As I neared the border, I used aviation code and said ‘Kilo Delta,’ a term used for the Pakistani city of Hyderabad. Then, while letting the hijacker hear, I asked airport control if this was Bhuj Airport in India. Air traffic control already knew the Pakistani aircraft had been hijacked, so they responded, ‘Yes, this is Bhuj Airport.’”

He explains, “Thus, while convincing the hijacker that it was the Indian city of Bhuj, I managed to land at Pakistan’s Hyderabad Airport in the dark of night. That was exactly what I wanted.”

This hijacking took place on May 24, 1998. Just days earlier, from May 11 to 13, India had conducted multiple nuclear tests, and it was widely expected that Pakistan would soon respond with its own.

After landing at Hyderabad Airport, Pakistani officers there posed as Indian personnel. Following several hours of negotiation, they managed to overpower the three hijackers before dawn. No passengers or crew were harmed. The hijackers were members of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO).

According to Pakistani authorities and media reports from that time, the motive behind the hijacking on May 24, 1998, was to prevent Pakistan from responding to India’s nuclear tests.

A CNN report from May 1998 indicated that shortly before the hijacking, there were reports of Pakistan preparing a site in Balochistan for nuclear tests. This led to anti-government protests by some political groups in the province.

The next day, leading newspapers across Pakistan reported on their front pages that the hijackers had demanded Pakistan not conduct nuclear tests in Balochistan and had also called for increased funding for the province.

The three hijackers were later sentenced to death and were executed on May 28, 2015—exactly 17 years after Pakistan’s nuclear tests—at jails in Karachi and Hyderabad.


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How Did Pakistan Manage to Conduct Nuclear Tests on May 28, 1998?

Dr. Samar’s Congratulations on India's Tests

According to Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, he received a call from a friend in the military on the morning of May 11, 1998, informing him about India’s nuclear tests in Pokhran.

Speaking at a Khwarizmi Science Society event in Lahore on November 30, 1998, Dr. Samar recounted, “I said, ‘Congratulations!’ I was genuinely happy.”

His military friend responded, “You’re congratulating us on India’s nuclear tests?” To which he replied, “Yes, because now we’ll be able to conduct our own.”

Dr. Samar explained that back in 1972, when then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gathered the country’s scientists in Multan, they had all taken an oath to develop nuclear weapons.

After India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974 at Pokhran, Pakistan accelerated its nuclear program. Soon after, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan returned from abroad to join the effort.

By the late 1980s, the Kahuta plant was complete, and Dr. A.Q. Khan was appointed its head, having previously worked there as a scientist.

In this context, after India’s 1998 nuclear tests, it was widely expected that Pakistan would respond.

During the same 1998 Lahore event, Dr. Samar said, “As expected, after India’s tests, the Prime Minister became very active. He asked me, ‘Are you ready for this?’ I replied, ‘Absolutely.’ He said, ‘Good! Prepare.’”

On the international front, U.S. President Bill Clinton began efforts to prevent Pakistan from conducting nuclear tests, citing concerns of a nuclear conflict in South Asia.

In their book “The Man From Pakistan,” Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins detailed U.S. efforts and Pakistan’s response. They wrote that Clinton called Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif four times, offering incentives to dissuade him from testing.

Clinton promised to forgive U.S. loans, remove the Pressler and Solarz amendments (which restricted aid to Pakistan), and secure new military assistance from Congress.

In the book “Deception,” Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark noted that a U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott arrived in Islamabad on May 13, and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub reportedly mocked their offer of F-16 jets.

In a 2006 interview in London, Nawaz Sharif said Clinton called him five times to urge restraint and avoid testing. “When Talbott came, they thought we would agree. Clinton thought the same. But only we knew what we were going to do.”

Frantz and Collins further wrote that three days after India’s tests, CIA Director George Tenet told closed sessions of the U.S. Senate and Congress Intelligence Committees that satellite images showed underground nuclear test preparations in Pakistan’s Chaghi Hills.

Why Was Chagai Chosen for Nuclear Tests?
Located in the northwest of Balochistan province, Chagai is the largest district of Pakistan in terms of area. It borders two countries—Afghanistan and Iran.

Stretching around 200 kilometers, the Ras Koh mountain range forms the southern boundary of Chagai district. Within this range lies a 344-square-kilometer area called Dustan Wadh, near the village of Chhatar, in front of which sits the mountain chosen for the May 28 nuclear explosions.

On the other side of the Ras Koh range lies the Kharan Desert, where the sixth explosion was carried out on May 30.

Physicist Faizanullah Khan, in his book From Kahuta to Chagai, writes that the Ras Koh mountains in Chagai district were selected because the area was barren and sparsely populated. “Such solid rocky mountains are most suitable for underground explosions, as they prevent the spread of radioactive effects. The region was isolated from any land or air routes, making it easier to keep the operation secret.”

“Around the area lived only a few hundred people, who could be relocated easily before the explosions. Similarly, the second site on the other side of Ras Koh, in the Kharan Desert, was completely uninhabited.”

But Who Would Conduct the Test?

While an American delegation was still in Pakistan, an emergency meeting of Pakistan's National Defence Committee was called on May 15, attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his cabinet, and top military officials.

“There were two key questions to be discussed: Should Pakistan conduct nuclear tests? And if yes, who would conduct them—Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) or Khan Research Laboratories (KRL)?”

“After hours of discussion, only Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz voiced concern over the risk of economic sanctions if the tests were conducted. As for who would conduct the tests, PAEC’s technical director, Samar Mubarakmand, advocated for his institution, while Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan pushed for his own laboratory (KRL).”

According to Franz and Collins, “Mubarakmand said the Commission had completed preparations in Chagai and had already conducted simulated ‘cold tests’—nuclear test simulations using conventional explosives instead of enriched uranium or plutonium. He said they needed just 10 more days for the real (hot) test. On the other hand, Dr. Khan argued it was his right to lead the tests, noting that KRL had enriched the uranium used in the devices and had also performed cold tests.”

“This meeting ended without a formal decision on the test’s timing or leadership. However, there was consensus that a response to India was necessary... In meetings over the next two days with top military officials, Nawaz Sharif decided that the Commission would conduct the tests as soon as possible.”

When the American delegation left, according to Raja Muhammad Saleh Azam, the chairman of the Commission, Ishfaq Ahmad, met the Prime Minister and said, “You decide, and God willing, I assure you of success.”

In his book When Mountains Move: The Story of Chagai, Azam writes that the very next morning—on May 18—the Prime Minister summoned him again and said, “Go ahead with the explosion.”

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s Displeasure

In The Man from Pakistan, it is mentioned that Dr. Khan went to meet Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat at Army House, Rawalpindi, to express that even if his laboratory didn’t lead the tests, he should still have a role in them.

“He argued that his lab’s enriched uranium was being used in the nuclear devices. He also pointed out that he had recently conducted a missile test [Ghauri, in April 1998].”

“General Karamat responded by allowing a KRL team to join the final preparations in Chagai, and invited Dr. Khan to observe the tests from a nearby bunker as an honored guest. The next day, a small KRL group traveled with Commission scientists, engineers, and technicians on two PIA flights to Chagai. Equipment and tools were transported under the protection of four F-16 jets via two C-130 aircraft.”

The Final Moments

Faizan Khan writes that about 200 residents living near Chagai were relocated to safe places before the explosions.

Franz and Collins wrote, “In Chagai, the components of five nuclear devices were assembled at the end of a 3,000-foot-long fish-hook-shaped tunnel. Diagnostic wires were attached to the devices to monitor the explosions.”

“On the afternoon of May 26, the tunnel was sealed using 6,000 bags of cement and 12,000 bags of sand. The next day, engineers confirmed that the cement had dried enough to contain the explosion.”

In his lecture, Mubarakmand shared that the Prime Minister told him, “Dr. Sahib, please don’t fail. We cannot afford failure. If we fail, we will not survive. This is a critical moment for Pakistan.”

According to Franz and Collins, on May 28, a young officer named Muhammad Arshad, who had designed the Commission’s triggering mechanism, was selected to push the button and activate the devices.

He began the process by saying Allahu Akbar, and at 3:16 PM that day, five underground explosions shook the Ras Koh mountains. Dust clouds darkened the sky, and black granite turned white.

All scientists present, including Samar Mubarakmand, exclaimed Allahu Akbar.

Dr. Mubarakmand said, “We successfully conducted the first five explosions from a distance of around 15 kilometers and the final explosion on the 30th from about 45 kilometers.”

“I witnessed a miracle of teamwork in Chagai. We were there for about 10 days. There were technical challenges, but we made collective decisions and solved problems. The team spirit was very high. In such intense work, there is usually tension, arguments, and harshness, but we were all cheerful, kind, and composed.”

Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark wrote, “As the dust settled, scientists, engineers, and military officers, including Mubarakmand, gathered for photos. Glowing faces and confident posture made A.Q. Khan stand out among them. There was no trace of the past friction that had existed.”

“That evening at 6 PM, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the details of the event on state radio and television: ‘Today, we have conducted five successful nuclear tests. Now, no one can launch a nuclear attack on us.’”

According to researcher Sadiqa Khan, Pakistan’s sixth nuclear test was conducted two days later under the leadership of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. “In other words, the team led by Dr. Samar Mubarakmand carried out the Chagai-I explosions, while the Chagai-II explosion was led by Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.”

In his national address, Nawaz Sharif added, “We have now settled the score for India’s recent nuclear tests.”