Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable cruise missile

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan on Monday test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile with "stealth features", the military said, the country's first such exercise in more than three months.

The military described the Hatf-VII Babur missile as a "low-flying, terrain-hugging missile, which can strike targets both at land and sea with pin point accuracy" and has a range of 700km.

Pakistan's last missile test, also of a Hatf-VII, came in June at the end of a spate of five launches in around six weeks that followed arch-rival India successfully firing its Agni V rocket, which can deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in China.

The military said Monday's launch was carried out from a "Multi Tube Missile Launch Vehicle (MLV)", which it said improved the Babur system's targeting and deployment capabilities.