US strikes Venezuela, says its leader, Maduro, has been captured and flown out of country
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.
Multiple explosions rang out, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas, the capital, as Maduro's government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
It was not immediately clear who was running the country, and Maduro's whereabouts were not immediately known. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 am ET.
Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement. Details to follow.” He set a news conference for later Saturday morning.
The explosions in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, early on the third day of 2026 — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties. The apparent attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes, but it was unclear if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out "successfully.”
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of “ongoing military activity” ahead of the explosions.
The strike came as the Trump administration has escalated pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the United States. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes in September.
Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs. Maduro has decried the US military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.
Some streets in Caracas fill up
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Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighbourhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.
Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. An unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.
Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.
“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”
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Trump is at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he has spent the past two weeks for the holiday season. His public schedule showed he was set to receive an intelligence briefing on Friday evening, hours before the reported strikes. He offered no immediate comment on social media.
Venezuela's government responded to the attack with a call to action. "People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”
The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people's rights and expand the role of the armed forces.
The website of the US Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”
“US citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.
Inquiries to the Pentagon and US Southern Command have gone unanswered since Trump's social media post. The FAA 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 “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”
US Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted his potential concerns, reflecting a view from the right flank in Congress. “I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorisation for the use of military force,” Lee said on X.
Regional reaction was not immediately forthcoming in the early hours of Saturday. Cuba, however, is a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, xxxxx. Iran's Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.
It was not clear if the US Congress had been officially notified of the strikes.
The Armed Services committees, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any actions, according to a person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.
Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat-out objections to the US attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling near the Venezuelan coast, and Congress has not specifically approved an authorisation for the use of military force for such operations in the region.
Brewing tensions
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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.
They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation's most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US and asserted that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the US to combat drug trafficking.
Maduro also said in a pre-recorded interview aired Thursday that the US wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the pressure campaign.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the US.
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Woman delivers baby girl in train near Faridabad station
Faridabad (PTI): A woman was forced to give birth to a girl on a moving train near Old Faridabad railway station on Saturday after she went into premature labour, officials said.
The train was stopped at Faridabad Old Railway Station and the mother and the newborn were rushed to a hospital. Authorities said both of them are "completely safe".
The delivery was carried out with the help of other women present in the train. The woman was returning from Katra, Jammu with her husband for the delivery which was due next month, police said.
"A woman delivered a baby on the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Jabalpur Express going from Jammu and Kashmir to Madhya Pradesh. At present, both the mother and the newborn are completely safes" said DSP Rajesh Chechi.
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According to family members, the woman, Abhilasha and her husband, Jawaharlal were residents of Sitoli village in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh. The couple lived and worked in Jammu and Kashmir.
She felt a mild pain as the train arrived in Delhi on Friday afternoon. As the train passed Tughlakabad station, the pain intensified, and within a short time, her condition began to deteriorate, police said.
Seeing the woman's situation, other women in coach S-5 immediately rushed to her aid and cordoned off the area and passengers sitting nearby were moved to the other side.
The seats were covered with bed sheets and blankets and the women helped Abhilasha during the delivery, they said.
A passenger alerted the railway control room. The railway administration swung into action and the train was stopped at Faridabad Old Railway Station. The train remained stationary for approximately 26 minutes to ensure that the woman and the newborn were safe, they added.
Female railway medical staff reached the coach and conducted a preliminary examination of the mother and daughter.
With the help of women police personnel of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP, they were taken to BK Hospital in Faridabad by ambulance. Police said the woman and the child are both safe.
