American Helicopter Hit by Gunfire During Operation in Venezuela

One of the American helicopters was damaged during an attack on Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Several U.S. military personnel were injured, but there were no fatalities.

CNN reported this, citing a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump.

President Trump said he believes that no Americans were killed during the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, although some were wounded during the attempt to detain him at a location Trump described as heavily fortified.

“I believe none of our personnel were killed – I should say that, because several of our guys were wounded. They returned safely and are expected to recover well,” Trump reported in an interview with Fox News.

The President added that one helicopter was hit during the operation, but no aircraft were lost.

“We didn’t lose any aircraft. Everything returned. One of them was hit quite seriously – a helicopter – but we brought it back,” Trump shared.

According to sources cited by The New York Times, a CIA agent within the Venezuelan government was tracking Nicolás Maduro’s whereabouts both in the days leading up to and immediately before his attempted capture by U.S. special operations forces.

The intelligence agency provided information that led to Maduro’s capture by tracking his location and movements using a fleet of low-profile drones that maintained near-constant surveillance over Venezuela, as well as intelligence obtained from Venezuelan sources.

According to The Washington Post, the United States deployed two Delta Force units to capture Maduro – one from the Middle East and one from North Africa.

Working in cooperation with the CIA, these units had заранее established a “pattern of life” for Maduro by monitoring his whereabouts and daily movements.

The operation in Venezuela was launched overnight on January 3, 2025. U.S. forces suppressed Venezuela’s air defenses and carried out the insertion of special operations units from Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters.

Preparations for the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro began in mid-December 2025, but it had to be postponed due to bad weather and President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Nigeria on Christmas Day.