Pak test fires Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Hatf 5

Friday November 17, 2006 (0244 PST)

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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Thursday successfully test fired the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Hatf 5 (Ghauri).

The launch was carried out by the troops of the Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) at the culmination phase of a training exercise held to test the operational readiness of a Strategic Missile Group (SMG) equipped with Ghauri Missiles.

It may be recalled that the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf had handed over the highly accurate Ghauri Missiles to the ASFC at an impressive ceremony some years back. The Ghauri Missile has a range of 1300 kms.

Today's launch exercise was witnessed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Shaukat Aziz and the Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hyat besides a large number of senior military officers and scientists and engineers of the strategic organizations.

The Prime Minister congratulated the officers and other ranks of the ASFC on the high standards achieved during training which was reflected in the successful launch and the accuracy of the missile in reaching the target.

He said that Pakistan can be justifiably proud of its defence capability and the reliability of its nuclear deterrence. He said Pakistan believed in peace that comes from a position of strength and operational readiness.

The defence of the country was non negotiable. The Prime Minister made it clear that Pakistan's nuclear capability had matured and was consolidated as a fully operationalised capability in the last seven years. The three services had raised effective Strategic Forces to handle the nation's nuclear capability in all dimensions, and were equipped to handle the strategic assets in the field. The National Command Authority and the Strategic Plans Division, which oversaw Pakistan's Strategic Programme, were fully alive to the regional security situation and had developed adequate response options to meet any contingency, he said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister was received in the training area by the Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hyat, Director General of the Strategic Forces Command Lieutenant General Khalid Kidwai, and Commander of the Army Strategic Forces Command Lieutenant General Khalid Munir. The successful exercise was also witnessed by Chairman NESCOM Dr Samar Mubarakmand, Chairman PAEC Mr Anwar Ali and Chairman KRL Mr Karim Ahmed.