Pakistan successfully test-fires

nuclear-capable missile

3/31/2005 8:00:00 PM GMT

Pakistan successfully test-fired a nuclear capable, shot-range missile, the military said in a statement on Thursday.

The Hatf II, or Abdali missile can reach targets up to 180 kilometers away "and can carry all types of warheads," the statement said. "All desired technical parameters were validated."

"As part of the usual confidence-building measures, prior notification of the test had been given to all concerned," it added.

Pakistan and India, who both carried out nuclear tests in 1998, inform each other before conducting any of their regular missile tests under an unwritten unofficial 1999 agreement.

Earlier this month, Pakistan successfully test-fired a long-range, nuclear-capable Shaheen II ballistic missile.

The two Asian rivals fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947 and almost went to a fourth one in 2002.

Both countries are currently engaged in a 14-month-old peace process and have made a series of peace gestures towards each other in recent years.


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