5 Nicaraguan policemen die during ambush by armed gang

At least two police officers and three voluntary policemen died after being ambushed last Saturday in the city of Bluefields in the south of Nicaragua, local press revealed on Monday.

In a press release, the national police confirmed that the five policemen, from the city of Bluefields, were ambushed and murdered by an armed gang.

According to the police, the gang was seeking to free one of its members, who had been arrested a few hours earlier in the community of Punta Gorda. They succeeded in freeing their accomplice after the attack.

Another police press release from Aug. 15 detailed that a member of a criminal gang operating in the Punta Gorda community had been observed carrying out various criminal activities and arrested.

The policemen killed had been on their way to the community of Pijibay in Bluefields to participate in a community assembly and discuss matters related to public security.

In May 2014, four policemen from the Caribbean port of Bluefields, 383 km southeast of Managua, were assassinated by a group of drug dealers.