Gen Kayani rejects world fears about Pak nukes

* Army chief says ‘irresponsible alarms’ counter-productive
* Pakistan test-fires Shaheen-1 ballistic missile

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani on Friday dismissed “unrealistic” fears that Al Qaeda could seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, as the military test-fired a ballistic missile.

General Kayani rejected speculation that Pakistan’s warheads could be at risk amid the turmoil sparked by the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

He told troops after the training launch of the medium-range Shaheen-1 (Hatf IV) that “Pakistani armed forces were a highly professional, motivated and well-trained force and were capable of safeguarding and securing nuclear assets against all categories of threat.”

“Referring to international concerns regarding speculative scenarios, he dismissed such concerns as unrealistic and based on a lack of understanding of Pakistan’s command and control mechanisms,” an army statement said.

Irresponsible alarm: The statement added: “He stressed that creating irresponsible alarm by certain quarters would be counter-productive.” The statement did not elaborate.

Shaheen-1: Friday’s missile test-launch by the Strategic Missile Group of Pakistan Army’s Strategic Force Command (ASFC) came at the end of an annual training session by a Shaheen-1 Missile Group.

The locally developed Shaheen-1 missile, which has a range of 700 kilometres (440 miles) and is capable of carrying nuclear weapons, is routinely fired during training exercises by the troops. General Kayani said that Pakistan “did not have any aggressive designs against anyone and Pakistan’s nuclear capability was solely for the purpose of deterring all types of aggression.” agencies

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Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.