Originally published on December 5, 2013

Ten people were killed in a gun battle between police and armed assailants in a rural area of northwestern Nicaragua near the border with Honduras on Wednesday.

The national police said a gang of gunmen was trying to rob the Variedades Axel grocery store around 1pm. A joint patrol of police officers and soldiers were alerted, and gunfire was exchanged.

Six assailants and four policemen were killed. Three of the deceased officers were volunteers. Two people, an assailant and a police officer, were injured.

Violent incidents are rare in Nicaragua, as the country has one of the lowest crime rates in Central America.

Local officials reportedly gave a contradictory account of the event. They say the assailants were not robbers, but part of an anti-government group.

The area where the gunshot happened was once a stronghold for the Contras, a U.S.-backed rebel group that fought to overthrow then-President Daniel Ortega in the 1908s. Ortega, 68, returned to power six years ago and is now trying to change the constitution to remove a ban on consecutive presidential terms.

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