Trump orders strikes on Caracas, officials tell CBS, as Venezuela declares national emergency

(BBC) United States President Donald Trump ordered strikes on military sites in Venezuela, US officials have told the BBC’s US news partner CBS, after several explosions rocked the capital, Caracas.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the Venezuelan capital early on Saturday morning. A national emergency has been declared.

The Venezuelan government said in a statement that it rejected and denounced US military aggression. The White House and the Pentagon have not yet publicly commented.

US President Trump, who has deployed a navy task force in the Caribbean, has repeatedly raised the prospect of ground strikes in Venezuela.

Reports of places hit by strikes include a military airfield in the centre of Caracas, La Carlota and the main military base of Fuerte Tiuna.

Several of the surrounding communities are without power.

Videos of explosions and helicopters flying overhead have been circulating on social media but have not yet been verified.

Journalist Vanessa Silva, who lives in Caracas, told the BBC that she heard a huge explosion “stronger than thunder”, causing her home to vibrate.

“My heart was pumping and legs were shaking,” she said.

The Venezuelan government said the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira were also hit, and that the strikes aimed to seize Venezuela’s oil and minerals.

It said in a statement that it “rejects, repudiates and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America”.

Cuba and Colombia have also denounced the attacks.

The developments come at a moment of heightened tension between the US and Venezuela.

Washington has conducted a series of strikes on boats in the Caribbean it suspects of carrying drugs.

On Monday, Trump said the US had carried out a strike on a “dock area” linked to alleged Venezuelan drug boats, causing a “major explosion”.

Venezuela’s left-wing President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of intimidation to bring about regime change in his country.

He has also argued the US seizure of several oil tankers it said were transporting sanctioned oil revealed Washington’s true motivations to control Venezuela’s large oil reserves.

The US has accused Maduro of being personally involved in drug-smuggling and being an illegitimate leader. The results of last year’s presidential election were widely dismissed on the international stage.