Nicaraguan students reunite with families after police attacks

MANAGUA (AP):

More than 200 Nicaraguan university students were reunited with their parents yesterday after a tense night of armed attacks that left two dead and dozens wounded.

The students had sought refuge in a local church after police forced them out of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, which had been occupied during two months of protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega.

"It was a really hard night. They discharged their entire heavy arsenal against stones and mortars," said a sobbing young man who declined to give his name out of fear. "They wanted to kill us all."

The police onslaught was televised by local media outlets and covered by three journalists who reported via Facebook Live.

Students fearing for their lives sent farewell messages to friends and family. "I did it for the country and I don't regret it," a crying girl said in a video that went viral. "Forgive me mama, I love you."