SAN CERNANDO: MAY 23: (TAVERNA):
1. GV Troops leaving town in convoy of trucks 0.08
2. SV Soldiers carrying mortar shells and speaking on field telephone 0.17
3. SV Soldier loading mortar shell and firing 0.27
4. SV Soldiers sorting out ammunition 0.33
5. GV Mortars being fired PAN TO hills 0.41
6. GV PAN FROM Soldiers TO villagers in street 0.49
SAN JUAN DEL RIO COCO: MAY 21: (NBC):
7. CU PAN Aftermath of Contra attack, with smoldering wreckage and destroyed houses, as villagers in doorways watch (3 shots) 1.10
8. SV Troops in street 1.20
SAN CERNANDO: MAY 23:
9. GV Machine guns firing in hills 1.33
10. GV Army truck along road 1.42
11. GV Troops climbing embankment in village 1.52
InitialsASG/BB


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Background: SAN CERNANDO AND SAN JUAN DEL RIO COCO, JINOTEGA PROVINCE, NICARAGUA

Nicaraguan government troops ambushed a group of 700 Contra rebels along Nicaragua's northern border with Honduras on May 23. The U.S.-backed rebels were attempting to retreat into Honduras after an attack on the town of San Juan Del Rio Coco, in Jinotega Province, three days earlier. According to Nicaraguan sources, 70 Contras were killed in the exchange, which took place in San Cernando. The insurgents were said to have been pushed across the border into Honduras after heavy artillery exchanges. The Nicaraguan Defence Ministry said that 15 government troops died in the fighting. Government sources added that the army had also dismantled a base set up by the Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (ARDE) at Layasiksa, in Zelaya Province. Eight insurgents were reported to have died in the fighting. U.S. backing of Nicaraguan rebels operating from bases in Honduras and other Latin American countries has attracted worldwide criticism. The U.S. Congress has just granted President Reagan's latest request for increased military support for El Salvador, but refused further credits for Honduran-based rebels bent on de-stabilizing the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

Source: MICHELE TAVERNA/NBC