The short-range Shaheen, which employs solid fuel motor, was successfully fired from a coastal site near Karachi at 0950 hrs local time (1020 IST), an official statement said here.

With a capability to carry up to 1,000 kg of payload, the 13 metre-long Shaheen missile weighing around nine tonnes can target two major Indian cities - Delhi and Mumbai, according to available reports.

"This concludes, for now, the series of surface-to-surface missile flight test involving solid and liquid fuel rocket motor technologies, which started on Wednesday," the report added.

Apparently New Delhi was informed about the second missile test by Pakistan as acting Indian High Commissioner here Sharat Sabharwal was summoned to the foreign office on Wednesday evening.

It seems that in an apparent retaliation, Pakistan test fired itsGhauri missile only two days after India test fired its long range Agni-II from eastern coast of Orissa on Sunday last.

Meanwhile, noted Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, while terming the test firing of Ghauri-II missile as successful, has said that soon Ghauri-III would be fired over sea. He also dismissed Western allegations that the technology of the ballistic missile has been acquired from North Korea.

"All the results have been achieved from the missile test fire," Khan told Voice of Germany immediately after the test firing of Ghauri-II from the Jhelum test range.

He also said that the missile hit the intended target near Giwani in Baluchistan within 12 to 15 minutes and it also "broke the sound barrier before hitting the target".

To a query as to why Ghauri was not test-fired over its declared maximum range, Khan said that test was not conducted over sea due to short notice.

However, "We will request the Government to allow the test of Ghauri-III in sea for which thewhole sea traffic would have to be stopped," he said.

Incidentally, an official announcement after the Ghauri test had said that it was the second test of Ghauri-I missile with a range of 1,500 kms but later Premier Nawaz Sharif announced that it was Ghauri-II but tested over shorter range due to limited land mass of the country.