(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) Several U.S. Special Operations helicopters have conducted training exercises in recent days in waters near Venezuela amid rising tensions between the two nations over the U.S. deployment in the Caribbean, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The MH-6 Little Bird and MH-60 Black Hawk attack helicopters flew less than 145 kilometers off the Venezuelan coast, near oil and gas platforms, according to images analyzed by the aforementioned media outlet.

A U.S. official said on condition of anonymity that the aircraft were conducting training flights in the region and denied any connection to a possible U.S. military operation in Venezuela. The deployment of helicopters in the region joins that of other combat forces, such as ships and aircraft, with which the United States says it wants to combat drug trafficking. In addition, US President Donald Trump authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela.

Trump declared this Wednesday that he is considering carrying out attacks against drug traffickers in Venezuelan territory after sinking several suspected drug trafficking vessels at sea. The attacks on five vessels-which Washington claims were transporting drugs-off international coasts near Venezuela have claimed the lives of approximately thirty people. The Trump administration accuses Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading the Cartel of the Suns, a claim the Caracas government denies and denounces as a campaign of intimidation by the United States.

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