ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's military says it has successfully test-fired a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. A military statement says a Hatf III Ghaznavi missile with a range of 290 kms (180 miles) was launched Thursday at the conclusion of a field training exercise by the Army Strategic Force Command. It says the chief of the army staff Gen. Raheel Sharif and other senior army officers, scientists and engineers witnessed the launch of the missile from an undisclosed location. Pakistan became a nuclear power in 1998 and it routinely test-fires what it claims are indigenously developed missiles. The world community closely watches Pakistan's weapons program as it has fought three wars with its nuclear-armed neighbor, India, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. — AP
