Venezuela accuses US of bombing civilian, military installations | News

Venezuela’s government has accused the United States of launching attacks on civilian and military installations across several states, rejecting what it described as a “military aggression,” according to an official statement.

The government said the attacks occurred in the capital Caracas on Saturday as well as in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. Venezuela also accused Washington of staging the assault in an attempt to seize Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources, vowing that such efforts “will not succeed”.

President Nicolas Maduro has declared a national state of emergency.

The US has yet to officially comment. But a US official, who spoke to Reuters news agency on the condition of anonymity, ‍said the US carried out ‍the strike inside Venezuela. The official did ‌not provide additional details.

Explosions were heard and plumes of smoke are rising in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, according to news reports and witnesses, amid spiralling tensions with the United States.

Video footage obtained by Al Jazeera showed balls of fire and thick smoke coming from a structure next to a body of water in Caracas early on Saturday.

Quoting sources, Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, who is reporting from Santiago in Chile, said the explosion occurred near or around Fort Tiuna, the main military base in Caracas.

“Fort Tiuna is a key military base there. A series of explosions were reportedly heard throughout the area, followed by a blackout,” Newman said.

Our correspondent added that there is a “presumption” that the US has something to do with the incident.

“We don’t know yet how this explosion happened. There is also a possibility that this is an act of internal sabotage among elements of the military who are trying to oust President Nicolas Maduro,” Newman noted.

Sisi De Flavis, a journalist based in Caracas, told Al Jazeera that she heard what sounded like a huge truck crashing, followed by an intense shaking of the ground.

“The skies started to light up. Then there was a ball of orange fire glowing. You can still hear planes flying over right now, although there have not been any explosions since then,” De Flavis told Al Jazeera.

The Associated Press news agency reported at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in the capital.

An image published by AP also showed smoke rising at La Carlota airport following the series of explosions in the capital.

People in various neighbourhoods were seen rushing to the streets following the explosions. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, told AP, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party.

“We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Tensions have been rising in recent weeks in Venezuela after US President Donald Trump threatened to launch attacks on targets allegedly linked to drug trafficking.

Earlier this week, Trump also revealed a strike on a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats last week, in the first known attack on Venezuelan territory of the US campaign.

The US president has repeatedly threatened ground strikes on drug cartels in the Latin American region, including Venezuela, which he has labelled “narcoterrorists”.

He has claimed, without providing evidence, that Venezuela’s Maduro leads a trafficking organisation that aims to destabilise the US by flooding it with drugs.

In an interview on Thursday, Maduro indicated that Venezuela was open to negotiating a deal with the US to combat drug trafficking, even as he remained silent on the reported CIA-led strike on Venezuelan soil.

Maduro also claimed in the interview that the US is trying to topple his government and gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves through Washington’s months-long sanctions and military pressure campaign.

Asked point-blank if he confirmed or denied a US attack on Venezuelan soil, Maduro said: “This could be something we talk about in a few days.”

Maduro has said the Trump administration’s approach makes it “clear” that the US “seek to impose themselves” on Venezuela through “threats, intimidation and force”.