Pakistan had successfully test fired a short-range ballistic missile nuclear capable Hatf II 0503121
- Posted On
| a | |||
Defense News - Pakistan | |||
| Monday, March 5, 2012, 07:46 AM | |||
| Pakistan had successfully test fired a short-range ballistic missile nuclear capable Hatf II. | |||
Pakistan said on Monday, March 5, 2012, it had successfully test fired a short-range ballistic missile capable of carrying atomic warheads. The Hatf II (Abdali) has a range of 180 kilometres (113 miles) and carries nuclear as well as conventional warheads with “high accuracy”, the military said in a statement. | |||
A launcher vehicle loaded with Pakistani-made Hatf-II or Abdali ballistic missile rolls down a street during a military parade in Islamabad. (Archive image) | |||
| | |||
“It provides an operational level capability to Pakistan’s strategic forces, additional to the strategic and tactical level capability which Pakistan already possesses,” the statement said. South Asian rivals India and Pakistan – which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 – have routinely carried out missile tests since both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998. Pakistan’s arsenal includes short-, medium- and long-range missiles named after Muslim conquerors. The neighbours were on the brink of nuclear conflict in 2002 over the disputed territory of Kashmir, but a slow-moving peace dialogue resumed last March after a three-year suspension following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. India and the United States blamed the attacks on Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and Islamabad later admitted that the assault was at least partly planned in Pakistan. | |||