Venezuelan president Maduro targeted with explosive drones

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been targeted in an attempted attack during a televised public address,Several explosives-laden drones detonated as he was speaking at a military ceremony

Maduro has been moved to safety and is carrying on with his duties, he said. Seven National Guard soldiers have been injured as a result of the failed assassination

“That drone was coming for me,” he added “It was an attack to kill me, they tried to assassinate me today,” Maduro himself stated following the assault”

the explosions struck at 5:41 local time, and several flying devices loaded with explosives were shot down by the presidential guard

Later in the day, unconfirmed media reports indicated that a splinter group called ‘Flannel Soldiers’ claimed credit for the attack. Spain’s El Mundo newspaper cited a Twitter account under a similar name which alleged “the operation was to fly drones loaded with C4,” but said they were shot down by the presidential guard before reaching their target. The account also uploaded what it said were photos of the attack. There is no official confirmation that the claims are true

According to Gregory Wilpert, co-founder of Venezuelanalysis website, those who orchestrated the plot hoped that “the military would rise up against the president and would take it as an opportunity to organize a coup and overthrow the governmen

In a televised address delivered earlier on Sunday, Maduro pinned the blamed on the “Venezuelan ultra-right,” who collaborated with Colombian rightists. He also accused Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, of being behind the attack. Sponsors of the assassination attempt reside in Florida, according to Maduro. Colombia’s ministry of foreign affairs has brushed off the allegations