The deadly assault is
the second alleged raid by rearmed contras in less than a month in the RAAS. On
Sept. 27, a self-proclaimed contra group identifying itself as the “25th of
June Brigade” raided a police post in the municipality of El Tortuguero and
stole two AK-47s, a rifle and handgun.
The group then
released a communiqué stating that the guns “are now in the hands of the rebels
to defend the people of Nicaragua against the repression of the Orteguistas.”
The Nicaraguan army
and police have repeatedly denied the existence of rearmed contra groups in
Nicaragua. They claim the armed groups are “common delinquents.”
Common delinquency is
also the police’s official explanation for yesterday’s arms bust in Managua.
Police intelligence yesterday intercepted 13 AK-47s and an M-16 assault rifle
that were hidden inside suitcases smuggled aboard a bus heading to Jalapa, near
the Honduran border.
