US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States has carried out a major attack on Venezuela and that the country's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured.
Explosions rocked parts of Venezuela, including the capital Caracas, on Saturday (January 3) midnight, prompting a state of emergency to be declared in the country.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that Maduro was captured after a massive attack. In a post on the social media platform Truth, Trump said that Maduro and his wife were taken out of Venezuela after being captured.
He wrote, "The United States has successfully launched a major attack on Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro. The operation resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife and their removal from the country."
"This operation was conducted in conjunction with US law enforcement agencies. Further details will be announced later. A press conference will be held at Mar-a-Lago today at 11 a.m. local time."
The Venezuelan government condemned the US attack, saying in a statement, "Venezuela strongly condemns and protests the extremely heinous military aggression carried out by the United States on Venezuelan territory. At the same time, we formally denounce this incident to the world and completely reject this military aggression."
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has ordered the strikes inside Venezuela, CBS reported. US officials told the media outlet that he has ordered attacks on various locations, including military infrastructure.
The US military first gathered warships and other military equipment in the Caribbean region, accusing Venezuela of producing drugs and sending them to the United States. They first began attacking boats at sea. And today they have launched attacks directly inside Venezuela.