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Alsharq Tribune- Sarah Benkraouda
Venezuela's government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states after at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard early on Saturday morning in the capital Caracas .
The Pentagon referred requests for comment to the White House, which did not immediately respond.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Authority has banned bans US commercial flights in Venezuela airspace over "ongoing military activity" ahead of explosions in Caracas .
Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas .
Another military installation in the capital was without power. People in various neighbourhoods rushed to the streets as the explosions sounded at 2am local time.
Read more here: Scotland weather: Continuous snowfall closes roads across north amid amber alert "The whole ground shook. This is horrible.
We heard explosions and planes in the distance," said office worker Carmen Hidalgo , 21. "We felt like the air was hitting us." Venezuela's government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.
"People to the streets!" the statement said. "The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack."
The statement added that President Nicolas Maduro had "ordered all national defence plans to be implemented" and declared "a state of external disturbance".
It comes as the US military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats.
On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking.
Mr Maduro also said in a pre-taped interview aired on Thursday that the US wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.
Mr Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the US.
The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes on boats in September.
US President Donald Trump had threatened for months that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land.
The US has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela , and Mr Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the country's economy.
The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September.
As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a major build-up of American forces in the waters off South America , including the arrival in November of the nation's most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.
Mr Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US and asserted that the US is engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels.
Meanwhile, 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 thanks to their shared enmity of the U.S.
