The Venezuelan government said its President Nicolas Maduro escaped unharmed after drones armed with explosives detonated close to a military event where he was addressing the soldiers in the capital of Caracas on Saturday.

“This was an attempt to kill me,” AP quoted Maduro as saying. “Today they attempted to assassinate me.” He said far-right wing factions within Venezuela working in collaboration with conspirators in Colombia’s Bogota and Miami in the United States were responsible. He said authorities have arrested some of those responsible for the incident.

Advertisement

Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said seven soldiers were injured in the incident. “At exactly 5.41 pm (3.11 am Indian time) several explosions were heard,” Rodriguez said in a live address minutes after the incident. “The investigation clearly reveals they came from drone-like devices that carried explosives”, AP reported.

Maduro said he believed Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was also responsible. The Colombian government denied any involvement. It said there was “no basis” to Maduro’s allegations.

Meanwhile, a local group called Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility for the attack on social media. It said the military shot down its two explosives-laden drones targeting Maduro. However, the group did not provide any evidence of its claim.

Advertisement

Rodriguez accused the country’s right-wing opposition of carrying out the attack. “After losing the vote, they failed again,” BBC quoted him as saying. Maduro was re-elected for another six-year term in May amid allegations of vote buying and electoral fraud.

Maduro “came out of it completely unharmed and at this moment is carrying out his normal duties and is in permanent contact with senior political officials, with ministers and with senior military chiefs,” Rodriguez said, according to AFP.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab told CNN that he has ordered an investigation into the incident.