
Questions have been raised about whether the 'drone attack' against the president of Venezuela was faked after TV cameras failed to capture the 'missiles' and firefighters said the incident was actually a gas tank explosion.

Nicolas Maduro started rounding up his political opponents after blaming them for what he called an assassination attempt on Saturday.

Maduro had been addressing a military parade in Caracas on live TV, when he suddenly halted and looked to the sky after hearing an explosion.

He and his wife Cilia Flores were swamped with aides carrying bulletproof shields but both escaped uninjured.

Maduro claimed a 'flying device' exploded before his eyes and quickly blamed his 'ultra-right' opponents, but no drones were seen on television footage, which cut out after the incident. No footage of drones emerged on social media either.

Then, three fire officials at the scene disputed the government's version of events, claiming the attack was actually a gas tank explosion inside the Residencias Don Eduardo apartment building.

Smoke could be seen coming out of a building window at the site of the incident.

But 55-year-old Maduro promised a crackdown of his rivals as he vowed to bring down those responsible, 'no matter who falls.'

'This was an attempt to kill me,' he said in an impassioned retelling of the events, adding a number of suspects were arrested, without elaborating further on who they were.

Footage broadcast by state television shows Nicolas Maduro abruptly cutting short his speech as what he described as explosives-rigged drones detonated in front of him. He called the attack on Saturday an assassination attempt

Security personnel shield Maduro after the explosions, which came when he was addressing a celebration to mark the National Guard's 81st anniversary. The Socialist premier immediately pointed the finger at plotters in the US and Colombia

Venezuela's woes: How President Maduro oversees a country wracked by political turmoil President Maduro (pictured during Saturday's parade) has been in power since taking over from his late mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013 President Nicolas Maduro has remained in power of Venezuela, a major oil exporting nation, despite a collapsing economy and a long-running political crisis that has seen his country isolated internationally. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have fled the country, where food and medicine are in very short supply, and where inflation this year could reach as high as one million percent according to the International Monetary Fund. Maduro, a 55-year-old socialist leader who took over from his late mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013, has effectively sidelined the fractured opposition through control of the courts and the electoral body -- and undinting support from the military, which holds key posts in his government. Maduro often accuses the opposition and the United States of working together to foment a 'coup' to topple him. He says the economic malaise gripping Venezuela is an 'economic war' and any unrest is plotted by foreign powers. A year ago, four months of street protests flared against his authority that were put down by robust action from the army, the National Guard and police, resulting in 125 people killed. One of the key reasons for the protests was the creation of the Constitutional Assembly, which aimed to short-circuit the National Assembly in which the opposition won a supermajority in 2015 elections. Last year, the president said the new body replaced the elected legislature. The Supreme Court declared the National Assembly dissolved. Although it continues to operate, its decisions are routinely annulled. The United States and other countries have expressed alarm at the loyalist structure propping up Maduro, saying Venezuelan democracy was being undermined. Maduro this year brought forward to May presidential elections that -- after they were boycotted by the opposition and key opposition figures were declared ineligible -- handed him a new six-year term. Advertisement

He added: 'They have tried to assassinate me and everything points to the Venezuelan ultra-right in alliance with the Colombian far right and that the name of [Columbian President] Juan Manuel Santos is behind this attack.'

Information minister Jorge Rodriguez said 'several' drones loaded with explosive charges 'detonated near the presidential platform' - and that some of those behind the attack were detained.

Officials claim the dissidents used two M600 drones, each carrying 2lb of explosive. This would have caused injury and damage up to 160ft away from the explosion.

Video showed hundreds of soldiers who were assembled in neat formation on a wide road scatter in all directions amid the sound of screaming. Microphones could be heard being dropped at the state channel that was filming the event, which quickly froze.

In a statement three hours later, Maduro said 'everything points' to a right-wing plot that early investigation suggested was linked to Colombia, its president Juan Manuel Santos, and the US state of Florida - where many Venezuelan exiles live. He said several plotters had been arrested, without giving any further details.

Yet immediately Maduro's account of the incident was engulfed in controversy, with Colombia dismissing the claim its citizens were responsible as 'baseless.'

Meanwhile, a little known group called the 'National Movement of Soldiers in T-shirts' claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.

Later, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said the US government had nothing to do with the incident.

'I can say unequivocally there is no U.S. government involvement in this at all,' Bolton told 'Fox News Sunday' in an interview.

Military expert Rocio San Miguel said she believed the incident was ‘a security mistake’.

‘A military drone was destroyed by the military because they lost control of it,’ she added. ‘It started descending and to avoid it hitting the presidential stage, they destroyed it.’

In a day of confusing and rapidly changing developments:

Maduro blamed attack on exiles in the US and Colombia and county's president

Tensions are high over Colombia sheltering dissidents from the socialist country

Called on government of US President Trump to 'help me fight these terrorists'

He said two drones had deployed explosives in an attempt to assassinate him

Seven soldiers were injured in the attack and several buildings left damaged

Claims of responsibility denied by Colombian government and opposition

Obscure group called Soldiers in T-shirts made unverified claim of responsibility

Said it tried to fly the two drones at the president but soldiers shot them down

Venezuela expert said Maduro will use incident as an excuse to purge enemies

Suggested his regime did not stage the attack but it was done by amateurs

Regime said several suspects had been arrested but did not say who they were

Bolton suggested that the Maduro government could be behind the explosion, citing widespread corruption and oppression in Venezuela.

'It could be a lot of things from a pretext set up by the Maduro regime itself to something else,' Bolton said, adding that there were no Americans injured in the blast.

'If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we will take a serious look at it,' he added.

Maduro often blames the United States, which has imposed sanctions against officials in his government, of 'conspiracy' and blamed U.S. politicians of fomenting plans to topple him to end nearly two decades of socialism in Venezuela.

Venezuela is suffering under the fifth year of a severe economic crisis that has sparked malnutrition and hyperinflation, which has caused tens of thousands of people to flee across the border into Colombia and Brazil.

Maduro was mid-speech at an event to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Bolivarian National Guard when a 'flying device' exploded right in front of him at 5.40pm, according to a televised account he gave after the event.

'To the conscious Venezuela, we are going to bet for the good of our country, the hour of the economic recovery has come and we need...' Mr Maduro was saying before he suddenly stopped talking after hearing an explosion.

Within seconds, there was a second explosion and pandemonium ensued, with guards carrying bullet-proof shields rushing the premier and his wife off the stage.

Uniformed members of the country's National Guard lined up in the parade then suddenly broke ranks and began scattering in all directions to the sounds of microphones dropping at the state TV channel before the camera cut away.

A photograph later showed an injured military official clutching his bloody head as he was carried away by colleagues.

The attack happened during an event celebrating the National Guard's 81st anniversary. Pictured are guards massed in formation before hearing the explosions

Maduro said the 'far right' domestic opposition had carried out the attack with help from Venezuelan exiles in the United States and Colombia, as well as Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos - a harsh critic of the socialist who has accused him of undermining democracy.

He specifically named Florida - a city with a large Venezuelan expat population - as the source of the plotters. Some of the 'material authors' of the attack have been detained, he said, without giving any more details.

Colombia denied any involvement, while a senior Colombian official speaking on condition of anonymity said Maduro's accusation was 'baseless'. Tensions are high between both countries over Colombia's decision to welcome thousands of Venezuelan refugees.

Maduro's Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez accused Venezuela's right-wing opposition of carrying out the attack to avenge their loss in May's presidential elections - which was widely seen as rigged.

However, Hasler Inglesias, a youth leader in the opposition Voluntad Popular Party, dismissed the claim.

'We didn't know what was happening,' he told the BBC. 'It's hard to believe that the opposition is going to make an attempt when they have never made an attempt in this way in 20 years.'

Adding to the confusion, a little known group calling itself the National Movement of Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility, saying it planned to fly two drones loaded with explosives at the president, but government soldiers shot them down before reaching its target. Its members described themselves as 'dissident soldiers'.

'We showed that they are vulnerable,' the group tweeted to 90,000 followers. 'It was not successful today, but it is just a matter of time.'

A statement added: 'It is contrary to military honor to keep in government those who not only have forgotten the Constitution, but who have also made public office an obscene way to get rich.

'We cannot tolerate that the population is suffering from hunger, that the sick do not have medicine, that the currency has no value, or that the education system neither educates or teaches, only indoctrinating communism.'

Meanwhile, others even suggested the attack had been faked by the Maduro regime to stoke patriotism and legitimize a purge of its enemies.

Cameras captured the moment military officers standing at attention in neat lines broke rank and began scattering in all directions

This image showed a soldier with a bleeding head (pictured) being carried away by his comrades. He was one of seven people injured

Maduro and his allies have been quick to use the incident to paint an image of a loyal regime under attack from opposition politicians consorting with foreign powers, especially the US and Colombia.

'That drone came after me,' he said. 'But there was a shield of love that always protects us. I'm sure I'll live for many more years.'

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the attempted assassination targeted not only Maduro, but rather the military's entire high command on stage with the president.

Prosecutors have already launched their investigation and obtained critical details from the suspects in custody, said Saab, adding that he would give more details.

'We are in the midst of a wave of civil war in Venezuela,' Saab said.

David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America who has spent decades researching Venezuela, said the incident did not appear to be a staged attack by Maduro's government for political gain.

The 'amateurish' attack prompted embarrassing images of Maduro cut off mid-sentence with droves of soldiers running away in fear, making the president appear vulnerable, Smilde noted. Despite the optics, Smilde said he suspected that Maduro would nonetheless find a way to take advantage of it.

'He will use it to concentrate power,' Smilde said. 'Whoever did this, he'll use it to further restrict liberty and purge the government and armed forces.'

Smoke rises above the Caracas skyline after two drones detonated above the parade, according to the account Maduro gave on state TV three hours after the attack

Security forces and members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service check the Residencias Don Eduardo apartment building. This could have been damaged by one of the drones or by a gas tank explosion

Security forces check the apartment building for signs of what caused the damage. A web of different theories has already sprung up about Saturday's incident

Security personnel surround Maduro after the explosions were heard. He has been quick to use the incident to paint an image of a loyal regime under attack from opposition politicians consorting with foreign powers, especially the US and Colombia

Venezuela's government routinely accuses opposition activists of plotting to attack and overthrow Maduro, a deeply unpopular leader who was recently elected to a new term in office in a vote decried by dozens of nations.

Maduro has steadily moved to concentrate power as the nation reels from a crippling economic crisis.

In the midst of near-daily protests last year, a rogue police officer flew a stolen helicopter over the capital and launched grenades at several government buildings. Oscar Perez was later killed in a deadly gun battle after over six months on the lam.

The event had been just one more of many Maduro routinely holds with members of the military, a key faction of Venezuelan society whose loyalty he has clung to as the nation struggles with crippling hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine.

'We are going to bet for the good of our country,' Maduro declared triumphantly moments before the explosion. 'The hour of the economy recovery has come.'

Heavily armed security forces check a building after the explosions were heard on Saturday, in an incident Maduro's regiment has been quick to blame on right-wing activists working in concert with the US and Colombia