Pakistan Tests Short-Range Missile

Pakistan successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile early Friday, saying it was the first of several such tests to be conducted over the next several days, the army said.

The Hatf-III Ghaznavi missile reportedly has a range of 180 miles and can carry conventional and non-conventional weapons. It is considered a short-range missile, but can hit many important targets inside Pakistan's rival neighbor, India.

Meanwhile, gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Shiite Muslim employees of Pakistan's space agency in Karachi on Friday, killing five and wounding seven others, police said.

The attack occurred as about 20 workers were on their way to a mosque for Friday prayers, said Athar Rashid Butt, a senior police official. The gunmen were on motorcycles and fled after the shooting.

Butt said five people had been killed. Three of the seven wounded were in critical condition.

The bus belonged to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, or SUPARCO, which is charged with developing satellite technology, police said. The Shiites apparently worked for the agency.

"We have successfully test-fired the Hatf-III," said army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan. The army later released a statement saying that India and other neighboring countries were informed before the test, and that it was the first of "a series" to be conducted in coming day.

In New Delhi, Defense Ministry Spokesman Amitabh Chakravorty confirmed that his government had been informed beforehand.

"Pakistan had given due notification to us," he said. The ministry said a detailed reaction could be expected later in the day.

Sultan would not say where the test was conducted.

The missile test came with Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali in the middle of a visit to the United States, and two days after he met with U.S. President George. W. Bush at the White House. The two leaders reportedly discussed terrorism, the Kashmir situation and Washington's desire for Pakistan to contribute peacekeeping troops to Iraq.

India and Pakistan have frequently used missile tests as a form of diplomatic muscle-flexing.

Pakistan, however, denied the test was linked to politics.

"The timings of the tests reflect Pakistan's determination not to engage in a tit-for-tat syndrome to other tests in the region," an army statement said. "Pakistan will maintain the pace of its own missile development program and conduct tests as per its technical needs."

Pakistan's last missile test came on March 26, when it fired off a short-range missile shortly after India announced a similar test.

In 1998, the two countries conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests, shocking the world and earning years of sanctions.

Relations between Pakistan and India had been thought to be on the mend after Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said in April that he sought peace talks over matters including the flashpoint issue of Kashmir.

But talks haven't gotten off the ground, and officials on both sides have resumed the name-calling and mudslinging that have so often characterized the two nations' relationship.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between them but claimed by both claim in its entirety.

They nearly came to blows again in 2002, each rushing hundreds of thousands of troops to the border before international mediation brought them back from the brink.