Operation against the 'rebel pilot' leaves several dead and detained, reports the Government of Venezuela

CARACAS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The Government of Nicolás Maduro announced this Monday that the military forces managed to kill an unspecified number of “criminals” from a “terrorist cell” in the middle of an operation to capture the rebel pilot Óscar Pérez. and that five other members were arrested.

In a statement read on state television, the Ministry of Interior Relations and Justice also reported the death of two police officers in shooting confrontations with the group linked to the pilot who in 2017 carried out an attack from a helicopter against government buildings.

Previously, Pérez broadcast several videos through his Instagram account in which, with a bloody face and carrying long weapons, he reported that he was being attacked when he was supposedly taking refuge inside a house on the outskirts of Caracas, despite the fact that he was seeking to negotiate his delivery.

The Venezuelan authorities have not made reference to these events and in the statement from the Ministry of Interior Relations they did not comment on details about Pérez either. Reuters was not immediately able to obtain other official statements.

"Today (...) a dangerous terrorist group was dismantled after a confrontation with the security and peacekeeping forces of the Republic," the ministry statement reported.

He blamed this group, which he described as "criminal", for the theft of an official helicopter, from where in June 2017 he said grenades were thrown, without leaving any injuries, against public buildings, and for the theft of weapons from a military unit in December.

"These terrorists, who were heavily armed with high-caliber weapons, opened fire on officials in charge of their capture and tried to detonate a vehicle loaded with explosives," he said.

"The members of this terrorist cell who made armed resistance were killed and five criminals were captured," he added in the statement.

The president of the South American oil country, Nicolás Maduro, has described the pilot, who was taking refuge in a house in El Junquito, a poor mountain neighborhood near the capital, as a "terrorist."

In the videos released by Pérez, multiple detonations were heard. "We said we were going to surrender, and they don't want to let us surrender. They want to kill us," said Pérez, who had remained in hiding since the June events.

Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte and Eyanir Chinea. Edited by Silene Ramírez and Spanish Editing Desk team.