Pakistan conducts ballistic missile test

First North Korea. Now Pakistan. The Pakistani government said Tuesday it had successfully conducted a test of its short-range ballistic missiles — which are capable of carrying nuclear firepower.

The short-range missile, dubbed Nasr, runs about 100 miles, United Press International reports. But its technological strength — aside from nuclear capability — is its ability to dodge missile defense systems.

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It’s got what’s called shoot-and-scoot capabilities, UPI reports.

“Nasr has been specially designed to defeat all known Anti-Tactical Missile Defense Systems,” according to reports from Pakistan’s newspaper, Dawn, as quoted by UPI.

Pakistan hopes to eventually bring that technology to its long-range missile program, UPI says.

Pakistan has been in cahoots with North Korea — which just launched its third missile test on Tuesday — and helping build that nation’s nuclear weapons program since at least 2004. That’s when Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Kahn was caught giving North Korea information on nuclear technology, UPI reports.

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