Pyongyang warned that Tokyo would be its primary target if war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, if Japan maintains its “hostile posture.” It also threatened a nuclear strike against the island nation if it intercepts any North Korean test missiles.

In the comments, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday, Pyongyang lambasted Tokyo’s standing orders to shoot down any North Korean missile heading towards Japan, Seoul-based Yonhap news agency reports. The agency warned that any “provocative” intervention on the part of Japan would see Tokyo “consumed in nuclear flames.”

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Two soldiers were killed and six security officers wounded as insurgents mounted dozens of coordinated bombing, shooting and arson attacks in Thailand’s deep south, police said Thursday.

Government offices, mobile phone masts and convenience stores were among the targets of 32 attacks on Wednesday evening across eight districts of Pattani province in the restive region near the Malaysian border.

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At least 110 militants have been killed in a military operation in Pakistan’s federally-administered tribal areas, a senior Army official told Newsweek late Monday.

“The Army seized control of strategic posts from the militants and ground troops have established their positions,” said the official, who wished not to be named. He said 23 Pakistani troops have been killed and another 13 injured fighting the joint forces of the Lashkar-e-Islam militia and the Pakistani Taliban in Tirah valley.

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Five Indian Army personnel, including a lieutenant colonel, serving on a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan were killed Tuesday when armed rebels launched an audacious attack on a convoy they were escorting.

Seven civilians working for the UN mission in the country were also killed in the attack that lasted for about an hour. Five Indian Army personnel, including a captain, suffered serious injuries.

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The leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said his group had trained and funded fighters from Syria’s al-Nusra Front - which is blacklisted by the United States - since the early days of the two-year-old uprising.

He said in a statement posted on Islamist websites and seen by Reuters on Tuesday that the two groups would operate under the joint title of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

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North Korea has completed preparations for a mid-range missile launch from its east coast, Seoul officials said Tuesday, as the country readies for what many suspect is another provocative act amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.

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A French force of 1,000 soldiers has begun a sweep of a river valley thought to be a logistics base for armed Islamists near the Malian city of Gao, an AFP journalist accompanying the mission said.

Operation Gustav, one of France’s largest actions since its intervention against insurgents in January, will involve dozens of tanks, helicopters, drones and aircraft, said General Bernard Barrera, commander of the French land forces in Mali.

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