The surface-to-surface missile, named the Abdali Weapon System, with a range of 450km (280 miles), was successfully tested as part of an exercise on Saturday, Pakistan’s government said, according to Al Jazeera.
It added that the launch was “aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced maneuverability features”.
The tactical missile, which can carry conventional and nuclear warheads, is named after Ahmad Shah Abdali, the 18th-century founder of modern Afghanistan who led numerous invasions of the Indian subcontinent.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the scientists, engineers and those behind the successful missile test.
The ballistic missile’s test-firing came three days after Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad had “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch a military strike within 24 to 36 hours in response to the killing of 25 male tourists and a Kashmiri last month in Indian-administered Kashmir.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the April 22 attack in the scenic Pahalgam area by suspected Kashmiri rebels, and alleges that Pakistani nationals were involved in the killings. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he has given his military “full operational freedom” to respond as he promised to pursue those who had supported the attack “to the ends of the Earth”.
Pakistani minister Tarar said the Indian leaders want to use the Pahalgam attack as a “false pretext” to potentially strike Pakistan.
MNA
