Today's Edition
CARACAS (AP, AFP)
President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the US carried out a 'large scale strike' on Venezuela.
At least seven explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through the capital of Venezuela early Saturday, with the government of leader Nicolás Maduro accusing the United States of attacking civilian and military installations following a monthslong pressure campaign.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of "ongoing military activity” ahead of the explosions in Caracas.
The explosions in Caracas sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the blasts. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.
#Trump says US conducted 'large scale strike' on #Venezuela
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Read more: https://t.co/jG1iJx8gHp#AletihadNewsCenter #USA #Caracas #Maduro pic.twitter.com/sMDn956U36
The apparent attack lasted less than 30 minutes.
"This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement," Trump said in a statement issued on social media.
Trump added that he would give a news conference at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he is nearing the end of a two-week Christmas and New Year's vacation.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, Trump hailed the "brilliant" operation.
"A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people," the paper quoted Trump as saying.
The explosions come as the Trump administration has escalated a pressure campaign on Maduro.
Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.
President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs.
Maduro has decried the US military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.
The Venezuelan President had "ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and declared "a state of external disturbance.”
The website of the US Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was "aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”
"US citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said that the location of Maduro, his wife, was unknown, adding: 'We demand proof of life'.
The FAA warned all commercial and private US pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country to the north, was off-limits "due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”
The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September.
