Venezuelan police arrest armed men, seize US, Colombian weapons

SANAA, Jul. 11 (YPA) – Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced the arrest of three armed men and the confiscation of US and Colombian military weapons.

Rodriguez said in a televised statement that “a security operation against armed groups in the west of the capital, Caracas, resulted in the capture of three Colombian militants.”

The Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior announced that 22 “perpetrators of misdemeanours” and four members of the security forces were killed in two days of clashes between police and gang militants in western Caracas.

On Saturday, Venezuelan police forces stormed four popular neighborhoods in the capital, Caracas, to confront armed gangs.

Local media revealed that dozens of people had been killed since the outbreak of fighting between gangsters and the police in popular neighborhoods known as “barrios” or slums. However, no official outcome of the unrest has been released in the past days.

Interior and Justice Minister Carmen Melendez said the government had ordered “the deployment of an operation to protect the population in areas controlled by criminals”.

The police deployed armored vehicles and armed elements at the foot of the popular neighborhoods. Officers in flak jackets take cover behind walls between buildings to avoid bullets fired from heights.

In June, these repeated clashes claimed the lives of at least three people, including a nurse who was shot dead while refueling her car.

Venezuela accuses America and Colombia of being behind various sabotage operations and of seeking to provoke violence in their country.

A few days ago, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the CIA and the US military of plotting to assassinate him.