Baby killed at protest as criticism mounts

A fresh wave of violence claimed at least seven lives, including that of a oneyear-old boy, in Nicaragua as international criticism mounted against the government of President Daniel Ortega over its response to protests.

The attacks began on Friday evening, hours after the Inter-american Commission on Human Rights presented a report signalling the Nicaraguan government had violated human rights during the protests. They started in April and have been met by a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces and allied civilian groups.

A one-year-old boy was among the dead on Saturday. The national police said the boy was struck by a bullet fired by a delinquent trying to prevent authorities from clearing road barricades in the capital, Managua. The boy’s mother told a local TV station that the police shot her son. Nearby, two men had been shot dead.

Opposition groups called off a march planned for Saturday to honour those killed in recent protests.