Pakistan Successfully Test-Fires Shaheen-I Ballistic Missile - Military Spokesman

Pakistan Successfully Test-Fires Shaheen-I Ballistic Missile - Military Spokesman

Pakistan has successfully conducted the test launch for its Shaheen-I ballistic missile, a spokesman for the Pakistani Armed Forces said on Monday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2019) Pakistan has successfully conducted the test launch for its Shaheen-I ballistic missile, a spokesman for the Pakistani Armed Forces said on Monday.

The launch came two days after India carried out its own test of the Agni-II ballistic missile during an exercise. The Agni-II has a strike range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles), but both it and the Shaheen-I are nuclear-capable.

"Pakistan successfully conducted training launch of SSBM [surface-to-surface ballistic missile] Shaheen-1 capable of delivering all types of warheads upto range of 650 KMs [404 miles]. Launch was aimed at testing operational readiness of Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) ensuring Pakistan's credible minimum deterrence," Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor tweeted.

India and Pakistan have contended for the Kashmir region since the end of British rule in 1947. Though a ceasefire was reached in 2003 after several armed conflicts, instability in the region has continued.