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Pakistan tests medium-range missile, papers say
By AAMIR SHAH
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Pakistan is set to test-fire its
intermediate-range ballistic missile Shaheen-II, a weapon whose 1,550-mile
range makes it capable of reaching India's major cities, according to
Pakistani newspaper reports published Tuesday.
"The Shaheen-II is ready for testing and we are waiting for the orders to
go ahead," one report quoted nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadir Khan as
saying.
Last week United Press International quoted another Pakistani scientist,
Dr. Mobarak Mund, as saying a test of the Shaheen-II was imminent.
Also Tuesday, India test-fired the naval version of its short-range,
surface-to-air missile Trishul, or Trident. It was fired off India's east
coast on the Bay of Bengal from a mobile launcher and hit a dummy target
attached to a pilotless Target Aircraft. The Trishul can carry a payload of
34 pounds up to 5.5 miles.
Pakistan test-fired Shaheen-I, a missile with a range of up to 450 miles,
in April 1999 and has started mass-producing the weapon since introducing it
into the army.
Qadir said Pakistan has a stockpile of missiles and nuclear bombs capable
of striking all of the major cities in India, Pakistan's archenemy. "I can
even name the cities but that would not be proper," he said.
Claiming that Pakistan has a foolproof and flawless system in place for
delivery of nuclear weapons, Khan said "our nuclear facilities are at par
with any other similar facilities in any part of the world."
Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, said the nation crossed
the nuclear threshold in 1985 but had to defer tests until provoked by
India, which tested nuclear weapons on May 12, 1998, prompting similar tests
by Pakistan 17 days later.
Khan denied reports that Pakistan had borrowed the missile technology from
China and North Korea and said the missiles were "developed at home by
Pakistani scientists."
Shaheen-I, a surface-to-surface missile, is road-mobile and can also be
fired from a static platform, Pakistani media reports said.
Both Pakistan and India have been developing delivery systems since
testing their nuclear devices two years ago, and missile tests are linked to
their efforts to improve those system.
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Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
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