Inside the Strike: The US Munition That Hit a Residential Building in Venezuela

A Bellingcat investigation has identified remnants of an AGM-88 series missile inside a three-storey apartment complex that was hit in Catia La Mar during the US military raid on Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026 that reportedly killed at least one civilian. 

According to the Venezuelan independent media outlet, El Pitazo, Rosa Gonzalez, 79, was killed in this airstrike in the city of Catia La Mar in La Guaira State, 30 km north of the capital Caracas. The attack reportedly left a second individual severely wounded.

Bellingcat asked the US Department of Defense to confirm our findings. However, they stated that “a Battle Damage Assessment is ongoing”. We also reached out to the Department of State but they did not respond to our questions at the time of publication.

The Jan. 3 US attack on Venezuela targeted multiple locations across the country, including military installations and areas within and around the capital, Caracas. US military helicopters, jets and drones provided cover for an assault force that landed at Fort Tiuna,  the largest military complex in Caracas; captured President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, and flew them out of the country.

About 75 people, including civilians, were killed in the operation, US officials familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. Among the military fatalities were 32 Cuban and 21 Venezuelan soldiers, according to various media reports.

According to El Pitazo, a second woman, Yohana Rodríguez Sierra, 45, was killed, and her daughter wounded, in other strikes at a communications station at Cerro El Volcán. Multiple residential houses were also reportedly destroyed in the nearby area of La Boyera.

The military operation in Caracas follows a series of attacks on alleged drug boats which have reportedly killed at least 114 in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Identifying the Munition

Bellingcat has found videos showing the aftermath of the Catia La Mar attack and remnants of the munition filmed at the location. The strike destroyed some exterior walls of one apartment complex and caused extensive damage to at least two apartments.

Bellingcat geolocated the apartment complex to an area in Catia La Mar about 30 km north of Caracas (10.592796, -67.037721) and approximately 500 m east of a targeted air defence storage inside a military facility.

One video also reveals remnants of a munition. According to an analysis of visual evidence by Bellingcat, the remnants appear to show an AGM-88 series missile.

Another remnant of the AGM-88 series missile appears in a video published by Euronews. This remnant is a BSU-60 tail fin, that according to an analyst note on the Open Source Munitions Portal (OSMP), is used exclusively with the AGM-88 series missile.

The AGM-88 HARM/AARGM series are American-produced air-to-surface missiles that are designed to hit ground-based radar-emitting targets, such as air defence systems like the Buk-M2E used by Venezuela’s military, with several of them destroyed during the US military raid.

“Venezuela does not operate the AGM-88 HARM. Its F-16 acquisition occurred in 1983, when the US wouldn’t release anti-radiation tech to the region,” Dr Andrei Serbin Pont, International Analyst and President of the Regional Coordinating Centre for Economic and Social Investigations, CRIES, told Bellingcat. Later Israeli upgrades added guided munitions/AAMs, not ARMs, he said.

According to TheWarZone, Venezuela did not receive any precision air-to-surface munitions, such as the AGM-88 series missiles. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfer Database does not report any transfers of AGM-88 missiles to Venezuela.

US Navy aircraft were photographed in the region with AGM-88E AARGM missiles in the weeks before the operation. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine, stated that jets of this type, designed to suppress and destroy air defences, took part in the operation.

Air Defence Systems Targeted

The US struck several air defence systems across Venezuela as part of the operation, with Buk-M2E launchers being destroyed at  La Guaira Port, and the Higuerote and La Carlota airbases. Satellite imagery from Vantor shows that the area near a BuK-M2E storage building at Fort Guaicaipuro was also struck, but no air defence systems can clearly be seen.

According to satellite imagery, Buk-M2E launchers appear to have been stored at the military base approximately 500m from the residential building that was hit.

Bellingcat was not able to determine what caused the missile to strike the apartment building or if Buk-2ME launchers at Catia La Mar or a different system were the intended target. 

The AARGM variant is capable of having designated missile “impact zones” and “avoidance zones” programmed to determine where the missile can or can’t impact when used on missions, a feature added to “prevent collateral damage”.

Bellingcat asked the US Department of Defense if any weapons used in the operation transmitted a weapons impact assessment or other data that indicated they hit an unintended or civilian location. They said that a Battle Damage Assessment is ongoing.

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Carlos Gonzales, Giancarlo Fiorella, Jake Godin, Trevor Ball and Youri van der Weide contributed to this report.

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