US carries out first military strike inside Venezuela

US President Donald Trump said the United States carried out a military strike inside Venezuela, targeting an area used to load ships with drugs, marking the first known US military operation on Venezuelan territory since Washington launched its pressure campaign against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump told reporters. “They load the boats up with drugs. So 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.”

It was not immediately clear which US agency carried out the operation or what specific target was struck. Trump has previously said he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and last week made a vague reference to a US operation against a “large facility” in the country.

No official statements were issued by the CIA, the White House, or the Pentagon regarding the incident. The Venezuelan government also did not comment, and there were no immediate press reports from Venezuela confirming the strike.