ONE-YEAR-OLD child Teyler Leonardo Lorio Navarrete was killed at the weekend during an armed attack on the mayor’s office in Managua in the latest spate of opposition violence.

Police said he was struck down by a stray bullet in a continuation of bloody conflict that has plagued Nicaragua since mid-April, claiming at least 170 lives so far.

Hours later, armed and hooded attackers assaulted the municipal mayor’s office in Masaya, killing staff member Carolina de los Angeles Collado Delgadillo.

Earlier, in Managua, masked rioters armed with guns, mortars and Molotov cocktails stationed near the Ruben Dario University campus attacked local families before three of them were held and handed over to the authorities.

The police called for “respect for life, public and private property, the right of people to move freely” and reiterated a commitment to “peace, security and tranquillity.”

National protests erupted in April after President Daniel Ortega announced plans to slash pension benefits to cover a widening social security gap. He dropped the idea, but violence has persisted.

The latest concerted outbreak began on Friday evening, hours after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented a report accusing the Ortega government of having violated human rights during the protests.

Opposition groups subsequently called off a march planned for Saturday afternoon to honour those killed in recent protests.

They are demanding Mr Ortega’s removal and the bringing forward of presidential elections by two years to 2019.

The president has yet to respond to the demand for early elections.