US attacks Venezuela: How many countries has Trump administration bombed in second term – Full list | Today News

US attacks Venezuela: President Donald Trump said on Saturday morning that the US forces had conducted ‘large-scale strike’ against Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.

The couple has now been indicted in New York on terrorism and drugs charges. Trump has accused Maduro of running a 'narco terrorist organisation'.

Maduro was captured during the strikes inside Venezuela early on Saturday, a move that marked a sharp escalation after weeks of mounting tensions and speculation over possible US action. Trump insisted the US is "in charge" of Venezuela following the capture of President Maduro.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, President Trump said he has not spoken directly with Venezuela's acting leader, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, but she was cooperating with the US.

At the state of his second term in January last year, President Donald Trump pledged to restore peace by ending global conflicts. President Trump frequently cast himself as a 'president of peace,’ claiming he was worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. He even claimed that he has ended eight wars around the world in 2025.

Yet, Venezuela strike last week was the latest in a string of Trump administration’s military attacks around the globe in the second term. The second Trump administration has since attacked at least seven countries.

Al Jazeera quoted Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, the nonpartisan conflict monitor, saying that the US had carried out – or been a partner to – 622 overseas bombings in all, using drones or aircraft, since 20 January, 2025, when Trump took office.

The US launched what President Trump called ‘powerful and deadly’ strikes against groups allegedly affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) in Northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto State on Christmas Day.

President Trump and many Republicans, including Ted Cruz, have accused Nigeria of enabling a 'Christian genocide' in a country.

Nigeria has been plagued by violence from armed groups linked to al-Qaeda or ISIL, operating in the predominantly Muslim northeast and northwest regions. Abuja, however, denies allegations of genocide and says Muslim and Christian communities alike are affected by the violence.

Cruz first accused Nigeria’s government of enabling a “massacre” against Christians in October 2025, precisely in the country’s central Middle Belt region. Nigeria had agreed to the US military operation in the north of the country on 25 December.

The US Africa Command said that “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps” during the attack. Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strike was ‘successful’.

Reports said that the target of the attack was the newly emerged “Lakurawa” group comprising armed fighters from Mali and Niger who are often linked to ISIL and the al-Qaeda.

The US and Nigeria have a long history of security collaboration through training and intelligence sharing. The Christmas Day strikes marked the first known kinetic US military action in the West African nation.

President Trump has vowed that more strikes will follow.

A number of civilains have been killed in these attacks. Investigative site Drop Site News said in December that at least 11 civilians, including 7 children, were killed in a strike in the Lower Juba region, in Somalia’s southwest. The US, however, never shares number of civilian deaths in Somalia.

The US has been conducting air attacks in Somalia for long targeting armed groups, including al-Shabab, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Al-Shabab, which has about 7,000 fighters, holds large swaths of land in south-central Somalia, while the smaller ISIS-Somalia, which has about 1,500 fighters, is active in the mountainous regions of autonomous Puntland, in northern Somalia.

In the past year, 7,289 people have been killed by armed group activity, according to the US-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Trump withdrew most US troops from the country in first term as president. But the Joe Biden administration redeployed them in May 2022.

Trump had justified the attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites - Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow nuclear sites claiming that the aim was to curtail the ‘nuclear threat’ posed by Tehran.

The three sites were involved in the production or storage of enriched uranium. The US claimed it had become or was approaching ‘weapons grade.’

Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Foreign Minister, later confirmed that some of the sites were damaged. Pentagon, however, estimated the attack set back Iran’s nuclear program by about two years.

In retaliation, Iran struck a US airbase in Qatar the day after the US strikes. The strike was seen as symbolic action as no injuries or deaths were reported. Later the same month, Donald Trump declared a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, bringing the 12-day war to an end.

During his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Trump threatened to hit Iran again.

“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down,” he said, referring to the nuclear programme. “We’ll knock the hell out of them.”

Remember, for three decades Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming that a nuclear threat from Iran is imminent.

The US operation, termed ’Hawkeye’ damaged several ISIL weapons storage facilities in locations across Syria, an official told CNN.

“I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” Trump posted on Truth Social on 19 December.

President Trump said US was striking very strongly against ISIS strongholds in Syria, a place soaked in blood which has many problems.

“But one that has a bright future if ISIS can be eradicated,” he added, warning against further attacks on US service members.

In November last year, Trump held talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, as the Department of the Treasury announced suspending sanctions against Damascus for a further six months.

Al-Sharaa, a 43-year-old former al-Qaeda commander, toppled the longtime leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, last December.