At least four people, including a baby, have been killed in the Nicaraguan capital after security forces opened fire on protesters, activists say.
So-called “combined forces” launched an attack on a student protest at a university in Managua, the Nicaraguan Centre for Human Rights said.
The baby was killed by a police bullet while being taken to a babysitter, his mother said. The government denied it.
More than 200 people have reportedly died in two months of demonstrations.
The protests were triggered by government cuts to pensions and social security announced in April.
Talks between President Daniel Ortega’s government and the opposition to resolve the crisis collapsed earlier this week.
Many students have set up protests camps in Managua, including at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN), where hundreds live in tents and use homemade mortars in clashes.
Two people were killed in the campus area on Saturday, according to activists.
The combined forces – made up of police, anti-riot squads, paramilitary groups and pro-government vigilantes – also raided six neighbourhoods in eastern Managua, where the other deaths allegedly occurred.
The government blamed local criminals for the death of the 18-month-old baby. But his mother rejected their story.
“He was killed by a police gunshot. I saw them. They were police. Nobody told me,” Karina Navarrete told a news channel. (BBC World News)
