Venezuelan soldiers recount US attack on Fort Tiuna

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Venezuelan soldiers recount US attack on Fort Tiuna

2026-01-04 15:57 Last Updated At：01-05 13:27

Two Venezuelan soldiers on Saturday recounted the harrowing moment when U.S.forces attacked Fort Tiuna in Venezuela's capital of Caracas.

In a large-scale U.S. military operation against Venezuela early Saturday morning, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured and flown to New York.

Francisco Machillanda, a Venezuelan soldier, recalled fighting back when a U.S. helicopter attempted to land at their military base.

"They attacked us when they wanted to land in our unit. We weren't going to allow it. We joined forces to make them leave because they couldn't land there. If they landed in our unit, they would take it over, and we couldn't allow that. We defended our unit because we knew they wanted to land there. When the helicopter was coming down, we had to take action because otherwise they would have taken our unit. We are free people and we will do everything to defend our homeland," said the soldier. "I heard the explosion. I heard a whistle, just a whistle, then suddenly I couldn't hear anything. We felt the impact. When I got up, everything was already in ruins, everything was destroyed, everything, the boxes, everything," said another soldier in a local hospital.

A family member of an injured military officer told reporters about her horrible experience living near the military base.

"At approximately 02:00 in the morning, I heard loud explosions in Simon Bolivar, Los Chinos. The explosion woke me up and I looked at the window facing the mountains. I held my dad's hand tightly because he was next to me, and when I turned to the window I saw the mountains full of fire. I heard the helicopters flying overhead and the sound of explosions one after another," said the resident.

"I also looked out and they were running out terrified, and on my floor, the floor where I live, you could hear everyone shouting, 'Run, run, run.' I called some friends and they evacuated immediately. At approximately 09:30 in the morning, they informed us of the order for immediate evacuations for all civilians," she added.

Major Qatari energy facilities damaged in Iranian strikes: foreign ministry

Two major Qatari energy facilities shut down operations after being damaged during Iran's strikes targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, adding that the situation had been contained.

QatarEnergy announced on Monday that it had suspended liquefied natural gas (LNG) production following attacks on two of its energy facilities, and on Tuesday said it was suspending production of downstream natural gas products such as urea and methanol.

The shutdown sent gas prices skyrocketing on global energy markets, provoking fears of an energy crisis sparked by the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking during his weekly press conference, Al-Ansari said that the decision to shut down the facilities was taken as a precaution, to ensure the safety of personnel and infrastructure after the strike damaged key production and processing sites.

"The damage was contained and now the operations to assess, technically, the safety of the facilities is underway. And from the defensive posture, as you have seen, we have been ready in monitoring and dealing with all of these attacks," he said.

Al-Ansari said that Qatar is committed to de-escalating the situation, and added that Qatar had not had any contact with Iran since Feb 28.

"Qatar's diplomatic stance has always been firm and clear: committed to peace, actively promoting de-escalation, advocating dialogue and consultation, and striving to resolve the conflict peacefully," he said.