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<\/p>\nAt least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in the early hours of the morning in Venezuela’s capital Caracas. The country’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states.<\/p>\n
Pentagon referred requests for comment to the White House, which didn\u2019t immediately return an email seeking comment. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has banned US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace over \u201congoing military activity\u201d ahead of explosions in Caracas.<\/p>\n
Calls to the US Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the region, went unanswered.<\/p>\n
The explosions in Caracas occurred within less than 30 minutes. People in various neighbourhoods rushed to the streets. while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the blasts. Two hours later, various areas of the city remained without power, but vehicles continued to move freely.<\/p>\n
Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.<\/p>\n
“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. <\/p>\n
She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President of Venezuela Nicol\u00e1s Maduro speaks during a press conference at Hotel Melia Caracas on September 01, 2025. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n
Venezuela\u2019s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople to the streets!\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement added that President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro had \u201cordered all national defence plans to be implemented\u201d and declared \u201ca state of external disturbance”. That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people\u2019s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.<\/p>\n
The FAA\u2019s warning, known as \u201cNotice to Airmen,\u201d came shortly after one in the morning on the east coast of the US. It warned all commercial and private US pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country to the north, was off-limits \u201cdue to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The warnings are designed to alert pilots to a variety of dangers.<\/p>\n
It’s the second stop in less than two weeks as US President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. (Source: US Homeland Security) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
The blasts come as the US military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the US to combat drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the US wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.<\/p>\n
Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the US. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week<\/a> at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes on boats in September.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The US has also seized sanctioned oil tankers<\/a> off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n