ISLAMABAD, 24 February 2007 — Pakistan yesterday test fired its longest-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, two days after signing a deal with India to cut the risk of atomic weapons accidents, the military said.
The Shaheen II, or Hatf VI, missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) was launched from an undisclosed location, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.
“The test was very successful. It was carried out to validate technical parameters and it hit the target with 100 percent accuracy,” said Sultan, who will quit Inter-Services Public Relations on March 1 to command an infantry division. “It is a two-stage solid-fuel-based missile capable of carrying all types of warhead including nuclear,” he said.
Pakistan had informed “neighboring countries” in advance about the missile test, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
“We conduct these tests from time to time according to our requirement and defense needs. It was not meant to convey any message to anyone. It was not any country-specific,” she said.
President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz congratulated the missile’s technical team “on its outstanding success,” a military statement said.
“The missile test was part of (a) continuous process of validation and technical improvement, which Pakistan follows to consolidate and verify its various land-based strategic missile systems,” the statement said.
Yesterday’s missile launch was watched by Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Ehsanul Haq, who said the test was “an important milestone in Pakistan’s quest for sustaining strategic balance in the South Asian region.”
NWFP Law Minister Resigns
The law minister of the North West Frontier Province who had authored the controversial Taleban-style Hasba Bill resigned yesterday. The bill was twice approved by the NWFP assembly but rejected by the federal government. The Supreme Court barred the provincial government from making it a law. The minister, Malik Zafar Azam, belongs to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
