Honduras, Nicaragua Blame Each Other for Shootout at Sea

Honduras and Nicaragua blamed each other for a shootout Friday between patrol boats from the two nations.

There was no official word on casualties, but a Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two were killed.

Honduras, which sent a formal protest to Nicaragua over the matter, claimed that Nicaraguan troops fired on two Honduran patrol boats in the Gulf of Fonseca on the nations’ Pacific side.

“There was an exchange of shots,” Honduran Foreign Ministry spokesman Eugenio Castro Claramount said, adding that he was not aware of any casualties.

But the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry had a different account.

“A boat with border guards . . . was attacked by a Honduran boat in Nicaraguan territory in circumstances that are still being investigated,” spokeswoman Claudia Paniagua said, quoting from a statement.

“The version by the Honduran Foreign Ministry spokesman . . . does not coincide with the information available to the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry,” the Nicaraguan statement said.

The Gulf of Fonseca faces the west coast of Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Shootings are periodically reported there between vessels of the three nations.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua reported that Salvadoran rebels today will return 17 of the 28 anti-aircraft missiles they bought from Nicaraguan air force officers.

The Nicaraguan military has admitted that four air force officers stole the Soviet-made SAM-7 and SAM-14 missiles and sold them to the Salvadoran rebel group, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.