Pakistan has successfully conducted a night training launch of Ghaznavi ballistic missile according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The Ghaznavi ballistic missile is a supersonic surface to surface short-range missile designed and developed by the National Development Complex, with the first version in service with the Pakistan Army’s strategic command since 2004.
Pakistan successfully carried out night training launch of surface to surface ballistic missile Ghaznavi, capable of delivering multiple types of warheads upto 290 KMs. CJCSC & Services Chiefs congrat team. President & PM conveyed appreciation to team & congrats to the nation. pic.twitter.com/hmoUKRPWev
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) August 29, 2019
The testing of the ballistic missile comes amid increasing tensions with India after New Delhi revoked Article 370 from Jammu and occupied Kashmir nd ending its special status.
“Pakistan successfully carried out night training launch of surface to surface ballistic missile Ghaznavi,” said a tweet by Director-General ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor. He added that the missile was “capable of delivering multiple types of warheads” a distance of up to 290 km.
The Ghaznavi was launched from the Sonmiani flight test range in Balochistan and tracked at Nooribad and Goth Piaro in Sindh by National Development Complex (NDC) ground control station, located at a 220-kilometre distance from the range. NDC is Pakistan’s missile developer headquartered in Fatehjang, Punjab (Pakistan).
Earlier, as EurAsian Times reported, Pakistan successfully launched the Shaheen-II surface-to-surface ballistic missile, a day after India tested its hypersonic Brahmos cruise missile. Shaheen-II Missile is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a range of 1,500 kilometers.
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Prior to that, in March, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed “smart weapon” from the JF-17 fighter aircraft. In January, Pakistan successfully conducted a training launch of a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile named Nasr. The ISPR said the missile would enhance the operational efficiency of army strategic forces command besides re-validating the desired technical parameters.
The timing of the missile launch is seen as part of a two-pronged effort to internationalise the Kashmir issue at both military and diplomatic levels, and for impact, raise the spectre of nuclear war between the two countries.
There has been an array of predictions and warnings from Pakistan government leaders that have directly predicted war between the two neighbours. Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad stated that a full-fledged war will be fought between the two countries in October or November this year.
