The incident comes amid tensions between the US and Venezuela, with President Donald Trump ramping up military pressure along the Pacific to deter the entry of alleged drug boats
The Venezuelan capital of Caracas reported at least seven explosions on Saturday, along with the sound of low-flying aircraft heard by many residents. The Venezuelan government has not responded to the incident yet.
People in various neighbourhoods rushed to the streets. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.
The incident comes amid tensions between the US and Venezuela, with President Donald Trump ramping up military pressure along the Pacific to deter the entry of alleged drug boats.
Trump, earlier this week, announced that the military launched a land attack on a docking facility in Venezuela targeting drug boats, a claim that has neither been confirmed nor denied by Caracas.
President Nicolas Maduro has neither confirmed nor denied Monday’s strike, but said Thursday he was open to cooperation with Washington after weeks of US military pressure.
“Wherever they want and whenever they want,” Maduro said of the idea of dialogue with the United States on drug trafficking, oil and migration in an interview on state TV.
Asked point-blank if he confirmed or denied the attack, Maduro said, “This could be something we talk about in a few days.” The attack would amount to the first known land strike of the US military campaign against drug trafficking from Latin America.
Trump on Monday said the United States hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
Trump would not say if it was a military or CIA operation or where the strike occurred, noting only that it was “along the shore.”
“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Washington has ramped up pressure on Caracas by informally closing Venezuela’s airspace, imposing more sanctions and ordering the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.
For weeks Trump has threatened ground strikes on drug cartels in the region, saying they would start “soon,” with Monday being the first apparent example.
With inputs from agencies
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