Night of terror leaves 5 dead in Nicaragua protests

At least five people died in the flashpoint city of Masaya in Nicaragua during a night of clashes between police and anti-government protesters, a rights group said today, with residents describing scenes of terror in the streets.

The city saw running battles all weekend between residents armed with home-made mortars and slingshots who are trying to repel riot police and what they say are paramilitary forces loyal to President Daniel Ortega.

More than 100 people have died in the violence sweeping Nicaragua since protests erupted on April 18 against Ortega, the man who has dominated the Central American country's politics for four decades.

The new death toll in Masaya, a city of just over 100,000 people next door to the capital Managua, counted victims killed between Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Alvaro Leiva, head of the Nicaraguan Association for the Protection of Human Rights (ANPDH).

The agency has identified just one of the victims so far, a 23-year-old teacher named Carlos Lopez, who was killed by a bullet in the torso -- indicating "he was executed, no doubt, by snipers," Leiva said.

"There is a profound violation of human rights" in Masaya, said Leiva.