The US has captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro after a large scale strike on the South American country, US President Donald Trump has said.

Trump said Venezuela's left-wing president and his wife were flown out of the country in a military operation in conjunction with US law enforcement. They have been charged with drug and weapons offences in New York.

It comes after explosions were reported across the capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning, including at military bases.

The Venezuelan government has since demanded proof Maduro is alive. It has also deployed its armed forces and declared a national emergency.

Maduro's capture comes after heightened tensions between the two countries, with Washington striking boats in the Caribbean it says are being used to carry drugs.

The US has accused the Venezuelan president of being personally involved in drug-smuggling and being an illegitimate leader, while Maduro has accused the US of intimidation.

Here is what we know so far.

What do we know about the operation?

Maduro was captured by the US army's Delta force - the military's top counter terrorism unit - according to the BBC's US news partner CBS.

Trump told Fox and Friends on Saturday that Maduro and his wife were taken from 'a house that was more like a fortress'. The president said US forces were prepared with 'massive blowtorches' to cut through steel, but said Maduro 'did not make it into that area of the house'.

Trump said no US forces were killed and there were 'few' injuries in the operation, which he said he watched live.

Maduro and his wife were on a ship on their way to New York City, Trump said.

Trump is due to hold a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida at 11:00 EST (16:00 GMT) at which further details about the operation may be disclosed.

Republican Senator Mike Lee, who spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said 'he [Rubio] anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody, adding that the strikes were 'deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant'.