Ortega's offensive against the demonstrations caused 10 deaths in Nicaragua | World

Six of the dead are civilians, including two minors, and four, shock battalion police officers, according to the preliminary report of the pro-human rights Association of Nicaragua (ANPDH).

The attack occurred in the town of Masaya, 30 kilometers south of Managua, in the neighboring communities of Niquinohomo, Catarina and Monimbó district.

"This is a preliminary report, he is still investigating the names and ages of the dead," ANPDH President Alvaro Leiva told reporters.

According to Leiva, the authorities were asked to open a way to remove the wounded, which was not allowed. "There are snipers in different parts of the city, we are asking people to protect themselves at home," he added.

The car that transported Bishop Abelardo Mata to Masaya was shot dead by paramilitaries linked to the government, but the religious is "out of danger," the church reported.

Mgr Abelardo Mata, one of the five Catholic leaders who facilitated dialogue between the government and the opposition, was intercepted by paramilitaries who threw out their car, broke their windows and attempted to burn, revealed his badistant Roberto Petray.

The Auxiliary Archbishop of Managua, Silvio Baez, said on Twitter that he spoke to Mata and that "thank God he is well and out of danger".

Clashes between supporters and opponents of the Nicaraguan government killed four people and injured dozens on Friday (13). The clashes erupted in the middle of the 24-hour general strike called to demand the departure of President Daniel Ortega.

"They will destroy Masaya, they are absolutely encircled," said AFP Vilma Núñez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh).

The population of the Monimbó neighborhood, south of Masaya, is resisting attacks by shock police and paramilitaries "with homemade stones and bombs," said a resident of the area.

"The National Police and hooded parapolol armed with AK-47s and machine guns attack our native Monimbó neighborhood and we resist with homemade bombs and stones," said local resident Alvaro Gómez.

"The situation is serious and we have to open a corridor to evacuate the wounded," said Álvaro Leiva.

Leiva addressed a petition of badistance to bishops of the Episcopal Conference, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) .

IACHR Secretary Paulo Abrão said on Twitter that he was aware of the "violent repression of the Masaya population" and that "the state seems to be ignoring the dialogue" with the I & # 39; 39; opposition.

Civil society organizations head to Masaya from Managua in a caravan of solidarity, revealed student leader Lesther Alemán.

Archbishop Silvio Baez said on Twitter that international observers "are going to the area of ​​the targeted villages and Monimbó to find peaceful solutions and protect the population".

The El 19 Digital government website reported that "Niquinohomo is a liberated territory" of blockade, based on the so-called "cleansing operation", which included Diriá, Diriomo, Catarina and Monimbó.

The incursion comes in the midst of the government's offensive in early July to "forcefully" clean the barricades that protesters erected on the country's main roads and cities in the midst of protests that have done more 280 deaths since 18 years. d & # 39; in April.

The Masaya attack, 30 km south of Managua, occurs one day after 200 students were released with the mediation of Catholic bishops after spending 20 hours entrenched in a parish against attacks government troops.