Maduro: Helicopter hurled grenades at Venezuela Supreme Court

A helicopter dropped two grenades on Venezuela's Supreme Court building in a "terror attack" against his government, President Nicolas Maduro said in a speech Tuesday, adding that the weapons failed to explode. "I have activated the entire armed forces to defend the peace," he said in remarks delivered from the Miraflores presidential palace. Maduro said he has put the military on alert to respond to the alleged assault.

BREAKING: Video Appears To Show Stolen Helicopter Circle Supreme Court in #Venezuela; Pres. Says Chopper Dropped Grenades In 'Terrorist Act' pic.twitter.com/cyFwyhb3UK

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 28, 2017

"Sooner or later, we are going to capture that helicopter and those that carried out this terror attack," he declared. He did not say when the alleged attack is supposed to have occurred, and said no one was injured and that the grenades failed to detonate.

5/5 Tenemos dos opciones ser juzgados el día de mañana por nuestras conciencias y el pueblo, o a partir de hoy librarnos de este Gobierno Corrupto. Somos Guerreros de Dios y nuestra misión es vivir al servicio del pueblo. ¡VIVA VENEZUELA! ¡QUE VIVA!A post shared by OSCAR PEREZ (@oscarperezgv) on Jun 27, 2017 at 4:18pm PDT

In his speech, Maduro, 54, said that in addition to firing on Venezuela's high court, the helicopter flew over the Justice and Interior Ministeries. The beleaguered president, who for weeks has been thundering about alleged coup plots against him, said the aircraft was flown by a pilot who worked for his former Interior and Justice minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres, from whom he is now estranged.

National Guard bursting into National Assembly building in #Venezuela. Apparently beating up lawmakers #27Jun pic.twitter.com/2XSLxLAwDC

— Mariana_Atencio (@marianaatencio) June 28, 2017

Earlier Tuesday, Maduro repeated claims of a US-backed coup attempt and angrily warned President Donald Trump that Venezuela would fight back against such a move. His comments came a day after he announced the arrests of five opponents he accused of plotting against him to clear the way for a US invasion.