"Caracas was jolted awake by at least seven massive explosions early Saturday in what Venezuela has described as 'serious US military aggression'. Footage shows the city skyline standing dark and silent, with largely empty streets stretching across central districts after the strikes. Caracas residents described thunderous blasts from around 02:00 local time, as low-flying aircraft and air defences roared overhead. Smoke was seen rising from La Carlota air base, officially known as Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda, in eastern Caracas. Additional impacts were reported at Fort Tiuna, the country’s main military complex, and at the Port of La Guaira. Large areas of southern Caracas lost power shortly after the detonations, plunging neighbourhoods into darkness. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared a national emergency and a state of external disturbance, ordering all defence plans into effect and calling for mass mobilisation. In a formal statement, the Venezuelan government said it “repudiates and denounces” what it called “very serious military aggression.” US officials have not confirmed the strikes at the time of publication. It comes after weeks of US military action under 'Operation Southern Spear', limited to maritime intercepts of oil tankers and strikes on boats alleged to belong to drug cartels. Washington has accused the Maduro government of operating as a 'narco-state'. The Pentagon has maintained a heavy regional posture, including the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group and about 15,000 personnel in the Caribbean Sea. Just 24 hours earlier, Maduro had said he was open to talks with Washington on drug trafficking and oil investment. Caracas claims the US aim is to 'seize Venezuela’s mineral and oil wealth' through what it calls 'imperialist aggression'. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations, saying, 'they are bombing Caracas'. By midday Saturday, there were no confirmed reports of US ground troops entering Venezuela."