US warns allies about North Korea nuke test 'taking place this week'

Pyongyang, Apr 30 (ANI): The United States has reportedly warned its allies that North Korea is building up to carrying out a nuclear test this week.

The assessment of North Korea's intention to detonate a nuclear device dovetails with South Korean intelligence reports and the announcement by Moscow that it has put its military forces in the Russian Far East on a heightened state of alert.

According to South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, the test will be of a highly enriched uranium device.

On Wednesday, a senior North Korean official warned that the regime has developed 'powerful modern weapons' and that it does not fear the 'imperialists' in the United States, The Telegraph reports.

Meanwhile, analysts claim that a successful nuclear test would go some way towards rebuilding the international "face" that the regime lost on April 13, when a rocket that North Korea claimed was carrying a satellite crashed just moments after launch.

The United Nations Security Council condemned the launch, which most nations agreed was a test of a ballistic missile. (ANI)