at least ten dead in attacks by government forces

At least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded in attacks by government forces on Sunday, July 15, several rebel-controlled localities in southern Nicaragua. Six civilians, including two minors, and four police officers are among the victims, according to a provisional record of the Nicaraguan Association of Human Rights (ANPDH). This country, the poorest in Central America, has been shaken for three months by violence that has left at least 282 dead and some 2,000 wounded.

Police and paramilitary forces carried out operations in Masaya, a city rebel besieged located about thirty kilometers south of the capital Managua, and its surroundings. The localities of Niquinohomo, Catarina, Diria and Diriomo have been targeted. Residents reported that the detachments used shovels in the early hours of the day to destroy barricades, attacking their defenders.

Paramilitaries also opened fire on a vehicle carrying Abelardo Mata, a Nicaraguan bishop who headed to Masaya, said officials of the Catholic Church. The religious cleric, very critical of the government of Daniel Ortega, is safe and sound. He is one of the five Church leaders who mediate between the government and the opposition in Nicaragua.

Masaya, the most rebellious city in Nicaragua, is the epicenter of the protest movement launched on 18 April against the government of President Daniel Ortega. The 72-year-old, who has been at the helm of his country since 2007, is accused of harshly repressing the demonstrations and set up a "dictatorship" marked by corruption and corruption with his wife and vice-president Rosario Murillo. nepotism. His opponents demand early elections or his departure.