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Loud blasts, airplanes heard in Caracas, blackout reported near key Venezuelan military base. Trump carrying out land strike threat?

Loud blasts, airplanes heard in Caracas, blackout reported near key Venezuelan military base. Trump carrying out land strike threat?

Donald Trump, Nicolás Maduro Photograph: (Combination created using images from AFP)

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Explosions, aircraft noise and power cuts rocked parts of Caracas overnight near a major military base, raising fears of escalation. The developments come as Donald Trump renews pressure on Venezuela, after repeatedly warning of possible US land operations against the Maduro regime.

In Venezuela's capital Caracas, loud explosions and sounds resembling aircraft flyovers were heard around 2:00 am (0600 GMT) on Saturday (Jan 3). Reports suggest that at least seven loud explosions shook the Venezuelan capital, prompting people to run onto the streets. As per a Reuters report, in Southern Caracas, the area near a major military base suffered a blackout. This follows repeated threats from US President Donald Trump that America would carry out ground strikes against Venezuela.

Overnight strikes?

If this were a US attack, it would be the first known land strike on Venezuelan soil. Previously, on Monday (Dec 29) Trump confirmed that Washington had carried out the first land strikes on Venezuela. The US president said that the US attacked the "dock area" linked to alleged drug boats. Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump said the strike caused a "major explosion" at a site he claimed "they load the boats up with drugs".

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While he confirmed the strike, Trump did not disclose where the dock was located, when the strike occurred, or which US agency carried it out. When pressed on whether the CIA was involved, Trump replied cryptically: "I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was".

"We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area... it's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around," he added. Venezuela's government has not yet confirmed or denied that a strike took place on Venezuelan soil.

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Since September, US forces have repeatedly targeted what Washington alleges are drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. According to US officials, more than 20 vessels have been hit, with at least 100 people killed. On Monday, US Southern Command said two alleged "narco-terrorists" were killed in a "lethal kinetic strike" in the eastern Pacific, though it did not link that operation to the dock explosion described by Trump.

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Moohita Kaur Garg

Moohita Kaur Garg is a journalist and Senior Sub-Editor at WION News with five years of experience covering the volatile intersections of geopolitics and global security. She has e...Read More

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