IANS

ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN on Monday successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable shortrange surface-to-surface ballistic missile, the military said.

The Hatf-2 missile can travel up to 180 km and deliver nuclear as well as conventional warheads with high accuracy, the statement from Inter- Services Public Relations said.

The test is part of the process of validation of a land-based ballistic missile system, it said.

“The test provides an operational level capability to Pakistan’s strategic forces, in addition to the strategic and technical level capability which Pakistan already possesses,” Xinhua quoted the military as saying.

The missile test was witnessed by director general of Strategic Planning Division, Lt. Gen. (retd) Khalid Kidwai, and Commander of Strategic Force Command Lt Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani congratulated the army and its engineers.

Pakistan last April successfully test-fired another short-range surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile.

Nasr, which also belongs to the Hatf series, can hit targets up to 60 km away.

Barely two months before that, it tested the nuclearcapable Hatf-VII cruise missile that has a range of 600 km.

India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since their partition in 1947, regularly test-fire missiles to display each other’s capability.

Pakistan’s missile repertory includes Hatf ballistic missiles and its variants, Ghaznavi short-range ballistic missile, Ghauri and Shaheen medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles, Babur cruise missiles and Baktar- Shikan anti-tank guided missile, most of which have been developed with China’s help.