Pro-Ortega forces attack rebel city Masaya

Forces loyal to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega yesterday launched an attack on the opposition stronghold of Masaya, as international calls mounted for an end to months of deadly violence in the central American country. Around 40 vans full of heavily armed riot police and paramilitaries entered Masaya — southeast of the capital Managua — from four sides, according to images posted by residents on social media. Automatic arms fire and warning sirens rang out in the flashpoint city’s Monimbo neighborhood. “They’re attacking Monimbo! The bullets are reaching the Maria Magdalena parish church,” archbishop Silvio Baez wrote on Twitter.