Explosions Ring Out Across Caracas As U.S. Special Ops Helicopters Fly Over City (Updated)
Videos and images emerge on social media showing what happened visible This will be a major US military operation, currently involving multiple large explosions around the Venezuelan capital Caracas and the presence of American special operations helicopters. Although there has been no official announcement of the start of such an operation, it follows a months-long US military buildup in the region to put pressure on the cartels and Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
We have reached out to the White House, Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command for comment and will update this story with relevant information provided.
The videos show explosions and resulting smoke clouds in the sky.
Other videos show 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) MH-47 Chinook helicopters (and possibly MH-60s) flying over Caracas as several explosions erupt in the background.
Full-scale military operations appear to be underway against Venezuela, where dozens of US Army helicopters have been spotted over the capital Caracas. pic.twitter.com/kIqfbGjOK4
Based on what we have seen, currently unconfirmed by the US government, it appears that large-scale kinetic actions inside Venezuela have begun as a new phase of Operation Southern Lance.
We will update this article with additional analysis and information. Stand by.
Update: 2:45 AM EST—
The Pentagon and SOUTHCOM responded to our questions about what was happening and told us to contact the White House without further comment. We haven’t received a response yet.
CBS News He reported that Trump ordered the attacks, including on military facilities.
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BREAKING @CBSNews: President Trump ordered attacks on sites including military installations in Venezuela after the administration stepped up its campaign against President Nicolás Maduro’s regime on Saturday, U.S. officials said. through @JimLaPorta and me
Some thoughts about the timing of this operation. Operating special operations helicopters deep into disputed territory during a nearly full moon is far from ideal. It’s unclear if there’s anything that would extend the timeline for such an operation. Venezuela’s air defenses are not advanced but they pose a threat, you can read all about them here. Beyond larger SAM systems, the country also has many man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) these are especially problematic for helicopters. Regardless, either the threat was deemed low enough to proceed with helicopter operations, or the risk was worth the potential reward for whatever target or objectives they were pursuing.
It is also worth noting that air strikes likely eliminate known air defense systems that could put helicopters at risk; but Venezuela’s MANPADS (if widely deployed) and road mobile SAMs are much more difficult, and in many cases impossible, to mitigate with pre-planned attacks. We would also expect either the United States to have assurance that Venezuela’s combat forces will not fly and contingencies to ensure they do not fly, or (more likely) to be preemptively destroyed in the field. Beyond suppression of enemy air defense suite, electronic and cyber warfare It would also play an important role in this operation in terms of blunting Venezuela’s air defenses.
The timing is interesting here. The moon is nearly full, which is far from ideal for this sort of thing, especially when using SOF helicopters deep within a metropolitan area like this. The strikes probably helped clear the air defenses, but this is unclear at this time. He may have determined the target timeline…
Video showing a helicopter firing rockets at targets on the ground is said to be from tonight’s operation, but we cannot confirm this. This looks like a regular MH-60 Direct Acting Driller or MH-6 Little Bird rocket attack run.
It looks like an attack hit the port repository:
Update: 03:20 EST—
The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning the attacks and said they were aimed at seizing the country’s oil and mineral resources.
Given that a very large contingent of 160th SOAR helicopters are leading this operation, it seems likely that the USS will participate in this operation. Iwo Jima It will be used to support them, especially since most of this ship’s air wing has been moved ashore. Special operations mother ship M/V Ocean Merchant has been in the region for months and Iwo Jimabut its ability to support many helicopters is much more limited than an assertive attack ship.
I imagine USS Iwo Jima also acts as a special operations mother ship in this regard. The bulk of the air wing was redeployed to the ground. Of course, Ocean Trader is also included in the mix.
Here’s another video showing the MH-60 Direct Action Penetrator doing some other work:
Footage of a US helicopter (possibly USMC AH-1Z Viper) attacking ground targets with gun and rocket fire in Caracas, Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/mT5h1lnFkl
Initial reports said Fort Tiuna was the main focus of the action. This military facility is the center of gravity of the Venezuelan military and has very unique features such as bunkers/tunnels built on the opposite side of the mountain.
Man…this base has some very ‘interesting’ features about it being built into the hillside.
