Pakistan test fires enhanced cruise missile

ISLAMABAD, Apr 15 (Agencies): Pakistan conducted a successful testfire of the Babur Cruise Missile with enhanced range, the military has said.

The indigenously developed cruise missile, which has a range of 700 km, is a low flying, terrain hugging missile that carries certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads, an army statement said Saturday.

"Babur Weapon System-1 (B) incorporates advanced aerodynamics and avionics that can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy, at a range of 700 kilometers," the statement from the army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said.

Equipped with navigational technologies of Terrain Contour Matching and all time Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation, the missile can engage various type of targets with pinpoint accuracy even in the absence of GPS navigation, making it an important force multiplier for Pakistan's strategic deterrence, it said.

Meanwhile, an Afghan official says Pakistani forces have crossed into eastern Afghanistan and clashed with Afghan troops.

Col Abdul Hanan, the acting provincial police chief in the eastern Khost province, says the fighting broke out early Sunday and is still underway. He was not immediately able to confirm reports of casualties.