US strik in VenezuelaVenezuela demands US provide 'proof of life' of Maduro

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday called on the United States to issue "proof of life" of leader Nicolas Maduro who was captured by US forces, according to President Donald Trump.

Speaking by telephone to Venezuelan TV Rodriguez said she did not know the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following a series of US strikes on Caracas and other cities.

Trump said Maduro and Flores had been captured by US forces and flown out of Venezuela.

US bombs residential areas

Venezuela accused the United States of hitting residential areas in a wave of strikes early Saturday and announced a major deployment of military resources.

The "invading" US forces "have desecrated our soil, going so far as to strike, using missiles and rockets fired from their combat helicopters, residential areas populated by civilians," Venezuela's Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said in a video statement shared on social media.

Lopez added that the South American country would launch a "massive deployment of all land, air, naval, riverine and missile capabilities... for comprehensive defence."

He said authorities were gathering "information on the injured and dead" in Washington's "vile and cowardly attack".

According to Lopez, residential areas were hit in the area of Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela's largest military complex, situated in the south of Caracas, as well as in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira around the capital.

'Will overcome' US attacks: Interior Minister

Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Saturday his country "will overcome" a wave US military strikes which Washington said also included the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Cabello, considered one of the most powerful men in Caracas, told a local television broadcast that "at the end of these attacks, we will overcome," adding that "this is not our first battle against our people... we have managed to survive under all circumstances."