Local residents on Saturday recalled the horror moments of the U.S. attacks on Venezuela's Fort Tiuna, a major military complex located in southern Caracas, depicting the deafening blasts and the sudden chaos that followed.
The U.S. military launched a series of airstrikes on Venezuela early on Saturday morning and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, who were flown out of the southern American country.
Fort Tiuna, which houses Venezuela's Ministry of Defense, was among the targets of the U.S. airstrikes. Hours after the airstrikes, billows of smoke were keeping rise from the military installation, with the air filled with a burning smell.
Residents in a neighborhood near the facility said they heard tremendous explosions during the attacks, which began around 02:00 on Saturday. Many families, anxious about further violence or instability, were seen packing their belongings and preparing to flee the area.
"It's a very scaring experience. I saw the helicopters, I saw the explosion, the fire going to the sky. And at 02:00, we were sleeping, we were sleeping normally, and we suddenly awoke and saw the people yelling, 'get out, we are invaded, we are under attack.' It was a mess, disorder. The people run, the people take their cars and go to everywhere. And the people feel scared, feared. And the people try to understand what happened, but we haven't electricity, power, telephone signal, internet, we are in a blackout," local resident Manuel Zoran recalled.
"The sound was deafening. Bombs fell on the mountains, the mountains near Fort Tiuna. It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying," said Grechy Morillo, another local resident.
"It was frightening, very frightening. I've never experienced such bombardments before. It was terrifying. The buildings were shaking. I disagree with their invasion of Venezuela. The current situation is deeply worrying," said another resident Louis.
The U.S. attacks have not only triggered concern and insecurity among local residents, but have also forced the suspension of essential daily services.
In a residential complex, Valencia was still delivering water to households. He said that many families were currently lacking water, so he must continue working to meet the community's needs.
"The U.S. attack is an assault on all Venezuelans, affecting everyone, both at the commercial and corporate levels. Today, everything has come to a standstill," said Valencia, a water deliveryman.
Venezuelans recount horror moments of US attacks on Fort Tiuna
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Sunday launched new year military training across all units, with forces from the army, navy, air force, rocket force, and armed police conducting intensive combat-oriented exercises to boost battlefield readiness.
On the first training day, a brigade of the Army's 79th Group Army conducted integrated combat-oriented training at an outdoor training ground. The troops continuously executed over 10 individual and squad training subjects from the training outline, focusing on enhancing their battlefield adaptability and response capabilities.
Naval forces were also active. Along the coast of the Yellow Sea, the Navy's Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Nanchang, in coordination with destroyer Xining, missile frigate Weifang, and other destroyers and frigates, carried out subjects such as naval gunnery landborne and seaborne target practices, and live firing of anti-frogman lethal rounds. They also conducted fleet air defense exercises in coordination with naval aviation, testing the troops' ability to transition from training to combat.
"Now, there is more combat-oriented training that involves the full process and all elements, aligning with future naval warfare. Whether it's basic training or coordinated training, it is no longer single-subject, single-ship, or single-platform. Now it is system-wide linkage, integration of war and training, and multi-subject fusion, testing the combat effectiveness of the ships under complex conditions," said Fang Wanhao, an officer with a destroyer flotilla of the PLA Navy.
The Air Force, involving multiple branches such as aviation, surface-to-air missile, and radar troops, conducted joint training exercises with multiple aircraft types in realistic battlefield environments to hone their combat skills. The Joint Logistics Support Force's motor transport brigade focused on difficult and critical subjects related to transport and support under extreme cold conditions. By fully integrating real combat scenarios and setting up complex emergency situations, the training aimed to enhance the officers' and soldiers' emergency response capabilities in extreme environments.
On the first training day of the new year, officers and soldiers of the People's Armed Police Yunnan Corps conducted specialized, intensive training for subjects including emergency rescue and counter-terrorism capture and annihilation, adhering to a combat-oriented training philosophy.
The Rocket Force deployed its units across multiple routes and positions, setting up formations on various training grounds. They simultaneously conducted combat-oriented training on difficult and critical subjects such as cross-regional maneuver and rapid fire assault, promoting the efficient integration of personnel with weapons and equipment, and the information network system.
"For the new year's training, we will focus on hard and intensive training closely aligned with operational missions. We will strengthen adversarial testing at extreme boundaries and in complex environments, enhance the support of technological means, and forge the superior skills to be one second faster and one move better than the enemy. We will truly achieve readiness at all times and the ability to fight at any moment, ensuring new breakthroughs in improving the level of combat-oriented training readiness," said Li Zhiyong, a PLA Rocket Force officer.
Chinese People's Liberation Army opens 2026 training season to boost combat readiness
