Venezuela live updates: Trump confirms US strikes on Caracas and says President Maduro has been captured

Donald Trump has claimed the Venezuelan president has been “captured and flown out of the country” as he confirmed the US launched an attack.

In a Truth Social post, the US president said: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.

“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”

He said t here will be a press conference at 11am at Mar-a-Lago.

The US embassy in Colombia has said it is aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas, and told citizens to “shelter in place”.

It warned US citizens not to travel to Venezuela and advised to establish multiple methods of communication with friends and family outside of Venezuela.

Iran has condemned an attack on Venezuela as a “blatant violation of it’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

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.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) banned bans US commercial flights in Venezuela airspace over “ongoing military activity” ahead of explosions in Caracas.

The FAA’s warning, known as a “notice to airmen”, came shortly after 1am 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 “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity”.

The warnings are designed to alert pilots to a variety of dangers.

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets following explosions on Saturday.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolas Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.”

The state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

The United States is carrying out strikes in Venezuela, a US official has confirmed

The official, who was speaking on the condition ‹of anonymity, did not provide details to Reuters.

At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Venezuela’s capital in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Venezuelan government said attacks took place civilian and military installations in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.