Venezuela's military held a mass funeral in the country's capital as it began to bury dozens of soldiers slain during the United States' weekend raid to abduct President Nicolas Maduro.

Men carried wooden caskets cloaked in the Venezuelan flag past rows of uniformed officers. Singing echoed out from a nearby church in Caracas, and music from a military orchestra ceremony echoed over the cemetery, while throngs of family members and soldiers marched behind a row of caskets.

As the caskets were lowered into the ground, gunfire from a military ceremony echoed out over the state-owned graveyard in a low-income neighbourhood in the city's south side. Earlier in the day, families cried and embraced next to the caskets during a wake.

"Thank you for letting them embrace a military career," Rafael Murillo, a commander in the military, said to families surrounding him.

Before the ceremony, armed National Guard members patrolled some areas while families of the killed soldiers finished paperwork required for the burials.

100 killed in US attacks

Later, the Venezuelan government said that US attacks killed at least 100 people.

"So far — and I mean so far — there are 100 dead and a similar number of wounded. The attack on our country was terrible," Cabello said on state television.

The minister added that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were injured in the seizure but were "recovering." Both were seen walking on their own power during a New York court arraignment this week.

Caracas have not previously given a number for those killed, but the army posted a list of 23 names of its dead. Venezuelan officials have said a large part of Maduro's security contingent was killed "in cold blood," and Cuba has said 32 members of its military and intelligence services in Venezuela were killed.