Pakistan test-fires nuclear capable ballistic missile

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today successfully test-fired a ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to targets as far as 1,500 kilometres, bringing many Indian cities under its range.

The intermediate-range missile Shaheen-II, also called Hatf VI, was launched from an undisclosed location and its impact point was in the Arabian Sea, the military said.

The successful launch was the culminating point of the Field Training Exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command.

The purpose of the launch was to ensure operational readiness of a Strategic Missile Group besides re-validating different design and technical parameters of the weapon system, the military said in a statement.

Director of General Strategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, Lieutenant General Obaid Ullah Khan witnessed the launch.

Hayat congratulated the scientists on the successful launch and said Pakistan is a peace-loving nation with no aggressive designs against any one.

He appreciated the operational preparedness and readiness of the Army Strategic Forces Command, which made the successful launch of Shaheen-II Weapon System possible.

President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated the scientists and engineers on their outstanding achievement.