Pakistan conducts coaching launch of surface-to-surface missile amid fears of navy escalation with India over lethal assault on vacationers in Kashmir.
Pakistan’s navy says it has efficiently test-fired a ballistic missile as tensions with neighbouring India over a deadly shooting attack in Indian-administered Kashmir final month stay excessive.
The surface-to-surface missile, named the Abdali Weapon System, with a spread of 450km (280 miles), was efficiently examined as a part of an train on Saturday, Pakistan’s authorities stated.
It added that the launch was “aimed toward guaranteeing the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, together with the missile’s superior navigation system and enhanced maneuverability options”.
The tactical missile, which may carry standard and nuclear warheads, is called after Ahmad Shah Abdali, the 18th-century founder of recent Afghanistan who led quite a few invasions of the Indian subcontinent.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the scientists, engineers and people behind the profitable missile take a look at.
Pakistan carried out a profitable coaching launch of the Abdali Weapon System, a surface-to-surface missile with a spread of 450 kilometers, as a part of Ex INDUS.
The launch was aimed toward guaranteeing the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, together with… pic.twitter.com/1CHHy9djhn
— Authorities of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) May 3, 2025
The ballistic missile’s test-firing got here three days after Pakistan’s Info Minister Attaullah Tarar stated Islamabad had “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch a military strike inside 24 to 36 hours in response to the killing of 25 male vacationers and a Kashmiri final month in Indian-administered Kashmir.
India and Pakistan each stake a declare on your complete Kashmir region, however rule over components of it. They’ve seen tensions spike over the problem ceaselessly since their independence from British rule in 1947.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the April 22 assault within the scenic Pahalgam space by suspected Kashmiri rebels, and alleges that Pakistani nationals have been concerned within the killings. Pakistan has denied any involvement within the assault.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated he has given his navy “full operational freedom” to reply as he promised to pursue those that had supported the assault “to the ends of the Earth”.
Pakistani minister Tarar stated the Indian leaders wish to use the Pahalgam assault as a “false pretext” to doubtlessly strike Pakistan.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Chief of Military Workers Common Syed Asim Munir presided over a gathering of his prime commanders concerning the “present Pakistan-India standoff”, a navy assertion stated.
Munir “underscored the essential significance of heightened vigilance and proactive readiness throughout all fronts”.
Because the assault – the deadliest in Kashmir on civilians in years – India and Pakistan have exchanged tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs and expulsions, and shut border crossings. India additionally suspended its participation within the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.
The 2 nuclear-armed international locations have additionally exchanged gunfire alongside the militarised Line of Management (LoC), the de facto border dividing Kashmir between them, whereas Pakistan has threatened to droop its participation within the 1972 Simla Agreement that underpins the LoC.
Folks in Indian-administered Kashmir have been concerned concerning the devastating ramifications of a possible navy battle between the 2 nations.
