Pakistan on Sunday test fired a short range surface to surface nuclear-capable missile, the military said in a statement. “A successful test fire of the indigenously developed short range surface to surface ballistic missile Hatf-II Abdali was conducted today,” it said.
The Abdali missile can reach a target of 200 kilometers (120 miles) and can carry nuclear and other types of warheads, the statement said.
It said India had been given prior notification of the launch, as agreed last year before all ballistic missile tests are conducted.
President Pervez Musharraf hailed the test and congratulated the scientists and engineers on their “outstanding achievement,” it added.
Pakistan and India conducted tit-for-tat test nuclear detonations in 1998 and came to the brink of war in 2002.
The historical rivals, who have already fought three wars, routinely carry out tests of nuclear-capable missiles.
Source: Agence France-Presse
