The Venezuelan capital, Caracas, has been hit with multiple explosions amid increasing tension with the United States.
According to BBC, several explosions were heard, and smoke and low-flying aircraft were spotted in Caracas early on Saturday, January 3, leaving communities without power.
Some of the explosions were reported near military installations, prompting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to declare a national emergency.
CBS News sources have revealed that the US officials are aware of the explosions and the aircraft activity in Venezuela, claiming US President Donald Trump ordered the strikes.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government rejected all these claims in its first official statement after the strikes.
The government stated, “Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory."
Following the explosions, the Venezuelan president has "signed and ordered the implementation of the decree declaring a state of external commotion throughout the national territory."
He has also ordered to implement all national defense plans in an appropriate and timely manner while urging “"all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and condemn this imperialist attack."
The videos circulating on social media show fireballs and thick smoke rising from a building near a lake in Caracas and a military base.
It is worth noting that these strikes came after the US's continuous pressure on Maduro. The Trump administration has long accused Venezuela's president of being involved in drug trafficking and crime that affects America.
