Sandinistas Ambush Contras on River, Claim Eight Casualties

Sandinista troops ambushed a U.S.-backed rebel unit trying to cross a river into Nicaragua, killing or wounding eight contras, while 11 more rebels died in other combat, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

“A counterrevolutionary group was ambushed along the Coco River and their launch sank, resulting in eight casualties,” said a brief statement from the ministry. It did not specify the number of dead or wounded.

The guerrillas tried to cross the river Thursday near Wanblan, 120 miles northeast of Managua, the ministry said.

“After the ambush the contras fled toward Honduras,” the statement said.

The ambush was the first reported incident along the 360-mile border between Nicaragua and Honduras since troops of both countries clashed last weekend.

Honduras said its forces killed 10 Nicaraguan soldiers in combat after U.S. helicopters airlifted Honduran soldiers to the border to repel an alleged Nicaraguan incursion near Las Trojes, 80 miles east of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

In another incident, the Nicaraguan army discovered and attacked a contra camp in the southern Nicaragua area of Aguas Gatas on Tuesday, killing 11 contras and capturing 14, the ministry said.

The rebels reported over their clandestine 15th of September radio that they killed 15 Nicaraguan soldiers. The majority of the deaths were in the sparsely populated central province of Chontales.