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Venezuela helicopter attack: Pilot Oscar Pérez in bloody siege Venezuela helicopter pilot Oscar Pérez killed in raid
(about 20 hours later)
Two police officers and several "terrorists" have been killed in an operation to capture a helicopter pilot accused of leading an armed rebellion in Venezuela last year, officials say. Renegade helicopter pilot Oscar Pérez was killed in a nine-hour long siege near the capital, Caracas, on Monday, the Venezuelan government has confirmed.
Venezuelan forces surrounded a house in the town of El Junquito, near the capital, Caracas, as they targeted the "cell" linked to pilot Oscar Pérez. The pilot was labelled a "terrorist" by the government after he threw grenades at government buildings from a helicopter he stole on 27 June.
The authorities said they had arrested five people who they accuse of being part of a criminal group. He had been on the run since then.
It is unclear what became of Mr Pérez. Police tracked him down to a house where he was hiding along with members of the anti-government cell he founded.
Prominent government member Diosdado Cabello tweeted that Mr Pérez had opened fire on police. Who was Oscar Pérez?
Mr Pérez was wanted after he used a stolen helicopter to throw grenades at government buildings on 27 June. Oscar Pérez had been a member of the forensic police (known as the CICPC by its initials in Spanish) for 15 years before he hit the headlines.
In footage posted on social media on Monday, Mr Perez said he had offered to turn himself in but that he believed authorities were initially trying to kill him rather than negotiate his surrender. He flew a CICPC helicopter over Caracas dropping grenades on the Supreme Court and firing shots at the Ministry of the Interior.
"They're shooting at us with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]," he said. No-one was injured in the attack. The helicopter was later found abandoned on the outskirts of Caracas, but Mr Pérez had vanished.
"There are civilians inside here. We said we'd turn ourselves in, but they don't want to let us turn ourselves in. They want to kill us," Mr Pérez added. While he managed to elude the security forces for almost seven months, he made at least one appearance at an opposition rally where people cheered him and took selfies with him.
He then describes how those at the property with him were forced to "crouch down", adding: "Now we're negotiating." What else did he do?
He ended the video, which he uploaded to the photo sharing site Instagram, with a message for the people of Venezuela, who he urged not to "lose hope". After the helicopter attack, Mr Pérez also carried out a raid on a military police post in Los Teques, south-west of Caracas, on 18 December.
Who is Oscar Pérez? He posted footage of himself and masked members of his group overpowering the guards, gagging and tying them up and making off with 26 rifles.
Mr Pérez was on the run after launching a helicopter attack on the Venezuelan Supreme Court during opposition street protests last year. What did he want?
He became the country's most talked-about man and appeared in an online video on 5 July vowing to keep up his attacks on the government. Before launching his helicopter attack, Oscar Pérez had recorded a video message in which he appeared in front of a group of masked and armed men.
President Nicolás Maduro declared him a terrorist, accusing him of stealing a military helicopter and dropping grenades on the court to mount a coup. The video emerged at the height of anti-government street protests and he said he was fighting against President Nicolás Maduro's "tyranny" and his "narco-dictatorship."
Now in his mid-30s, Mr Pérez has been a member of the forensic police force, known as the CICPC, for 15 years. In the video message, he called on the military, the police and civilians to rise up against the government.
The Venezuelan media emphasise that he is a highly trained agent, part of the Special Actions Brigade (BAE), where he is chief of operations for the Air Force division. "Together, let's retake our beloved Venezuela," Mr Pérez urged. He said his aim was to "re-establish the constitutional order in Venezuela" and "to return the power to the people".
He has been pictured scuba-diving while brandishing a high-calibre weapon underwater and showing off his skills by shooting a target over his shoulder, behind his back, using only a make-up mirror as a guide. In the last of his videos uploaded to the photo sharing site Instagram as the siege was under way, he urged Venezuelans "not to lose hope" and to continue fighting for democracy in Venezuela.
The government has also accused Mr Pérez of having ties to the United States, specifically the CIA, which it also often says is trying to overthrow it. What happened on Monday?
As yet, Mr Pérez has no confirmed links with any international or domestic groups, although he has claimed to be part of an anti-government coalition of military, police and civilians. The security forces surrounded the house at 04:00 local time (09:00GMT) on Monday.
At its height, 150 police were involved in the operation, officials said.
During the siege, Mr Pérez posted a series of videos on social media. In the recordings, he can be heard saying that he had offered to turn himself in but that he believed authorities were initially trying to kill him rather than negotiate his surrender.
"They're shooting at us with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]," he said. "There are civilians inside here. We said we'd turn ourselves in, but they don't want to let us turn ourselves in. They want to kill us," Mr Pérez added.
What was the outcome of the siege?
After hours without revealing what Oscar Pérez's fate was, Justice Minister Néstor Reverol gave a news conference on Tuesday.
In it he said that Mr Pérez was among seven "terrorists" killed in the siege.
He also said that two of his "accomplices" in the attack on the military police post were among those killed as well as a woman whose identity has not yet been revealed.
Two members of the security forces also died in the operation and six people have been detained.