Explosions go off as national guard raid neighborhood
Police on motorbikes are hit by huge explosion as they clash with anti-government protesters in Venezuela over a weekend of violence that has seen nine people, including an election candidate, shot dead
Police officers on motorbikes were hit by an explosion at a protest in Venezuela during a weekend of violence that has seen nine people, including two minors, shot dead.
Officers have been reported injured after the dramatic incident, which was caught on camera as opposition supporters clashed with security forces in the capital city of Caracas.
It is believed the explosion was the result of an improvised device detonated by anti-government activists.
It comes amid fury over a controversial election called by the country’s beleaguered president Nicolas Maduro, who is attempting to bolster his power by creating a new assembly which will tear up the constitution and effectively create a one-party state.
https://youtu.be/aodYNKL7EUA
Four months of protests against the leader have left more than 100 people dead amid fierce international criticism with soldiers firing on protesters.
Election candidate who died from several gunshot wounds after assailants broke into his house in the southeastern city of Ciudad Bolivar.
At least nine people were killed overnight and into Sunday, according to prosecutors.
Among those killed was 39-year-old lawyer Jose Felix Pineda, who was a candidate to sit on the new assembly. He was shot by assailants in his home in the southeastern town of Ciudad Bolivar late on Saturday. Prosecutors said the motive of the slaying was unknown.
https://youtu.be/u6u6qjqUl90
Shootings at protests on Sunday killed a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old in the western state of Tachira. A soldier was also shot dead there.
The death toll also included a 30-year-old regional leader of a youth opposition party in the northeast town of Cumana, two male protesters aged 28 and 39 in the western state of Merida, and a 43-year-old man in the western city of Barquisimeto.
A 38-year-old man was killed in Merida on Saturday in another demonstration.
Pineda was the second candidate to be murdered after the July 10 death of another, Jose Luis Rivas, as he was campaigning in the northern city of Maracay.
https://youtu.be/jO-hqzSoVKs
In the west of Caracas, national guard troops fanning out to put down any disruption to the election used armoured vehicles and fired shots to disperse protesters blocking roads.
Video posted on Twitter showed troops smashing down a metal gate and entering to the sounds of gunfire, and what appeared to be a flaming armoured vehicle.
Rad more: Venezuelan protestors capture and strip two National Guardsmen Video
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