Following Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido declaring himself the country's interim president and US urging Nicolas Maduro to step down and let Guaido to assume the presidency, violence has broken out across Venezuela with videos of skirmishes circulating social media.

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik that, on Wednesday, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president at a mass rally in Caracas. The United States urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down in favor of Guaido. Maduro called the opposition leader "the US puppet" and said that Venezuela was severing diplomatic ties with Washington. Guaido has previously called for a nationwide anti-government protest on January 23, which marks the 61st anniversary of the uprising that overthrew military dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez. Supporters of Maduro held a separate rally on the same day.

Meanwhile, the number of people who were killed in clashes during the nationwide protests in Venezuela has increased to 16, local media reported.

According to La Prensa de Lara media outlet, 16 people were killed in clashes in Venezuela's states of Portuguesa, Barinas, Tachira, Caracas, Amazonas and Bolivar.

Several accounts on Twitter reported explosions in the eastern part of Venezuela's capital.

Comenzó el tiroteo en petare Caracas hoy le tocó a los barrios del este de la ciudad, Conas por todos lados pic.twitter.com/aM4rcyTtWy

— JuanCarlosFranco (@Francojuanky) January 24, 2019

10:40 pm el amparo Caracas, enfrentamientos y detonaciones reportan vencinos pic.twitter.com/xAI67xXyYX

— JuanCarlosFranco (@Francojuanky) January 24, 2019

Petare
23/01/2019
9:00pm pic.twitter.com/wPnbn2vFrp

— Tugomir Yepez Sarmiento .•. (@tugomiryepez) January 24, 2019

***15:10

Skirmishes in #Caracas as #Venezuela upheaval escalates https://t.co/dbiAefJcmY pic.twitter.com/PPpYzOKISb

— RT (@RT_com) January 24, 2019