Dramatic images reveal scale of destruction from US strikes on Venezuela

American bombs rained down on Caracas, the capital city, on Saturday morning as part of an operation to capture the Venezuelan president and his wife, who are now in custody in the US.

Aerial photographs show how several buildings were wiped during the raid.

Damage shows tracts of charred land and smoke billowing above the area.

Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela's biggest military complex in the capital, was targeted in the strikes.

Surface-to-air missile systems, communications networks and at least two buildings appearing to be depots were also struck.

But Miraflores Palace – the presidential palace – appeared to avoid any damage.

Read more: Handcuffed Maduro 'perp walked' to cell in New York as Trump says US will 'run Venezuela'

Read more: Timeline of events leading up to US capture of Venezuelan President Maduro

An anonymous Venezuelan official claimed last night that at least 40 people killed in the strikes, including civilians, according to the New York Times.

Low-flying aircraft, loud explosions and columns of smoke were seen and heard during the early hours of Saturday morning, with several locations targeted across the capital.

At least two explosions were heard at an airport in the town of Higuerote. Footage showed a surface-to-air missile system by a damaged plane and airport building.

The southern part of the city was left without power, as locals from several neighbourhoods poured into the streets amid the chaotic scenes.

US President Donald Trump praised his military operation and said he watched the events unfolding "like I was watching a television show".

He said it was an "amazing job" and "extremely complex" manoeuvre, which he watched from Mar-a-Lago.

Maduro was in a "highly guarded fortress" when he was captured, Mr Trump told Fox News.

Mr Trump has also warned that the US is prepared to stage a second, "much larger" attack if needed.

A second attack was originally planned but the first attack turned out to be sufficient for now, Mr Trump said in a press conference on Saturday.

He also issued a stark warning to other countries, saying: "This extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives."

The goal of all this was to "surround ourselves with stability" and to reassert "American power in our home region", Mr Trump said.

The operation followed months of pressure from Washington on the oil-rich South American nation.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have since arrived in New York where they will face prosecution.

Footage of a handcuffed Maduro shows the Venezuelan President being led to his New York cell.

On Sunday, the White House’s rapid response account on X posted a video appearing to show Maduro handcuffed and escorted by law enforcement agents. The video was captioned “perp walked”.

At the end of the video, Maduro is seemingly heard saying "Happy New Year".

He has been taken to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held before facing drugs and weapons charges in a Manhattan federal court next week.

The slew of drugs and weapons charges include:

• narco-terrorism conspiracy
  
• cocaine importation conspiracy
  
• possession of machine guns and destructive devices
  
• and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the US

The action follows threats from Trump and ramped up military pressure against Maduro linked to what the US President claims to be an ongoing war on drug cartels.

Venezuela's government was seen to denounce the aggression, accusing the US of "attempting to forcibly break the nation's political independence".