Managua, July 21 (Xinhua-RHC) -- At least five people were killed and more than 20 injured on Sunday in Nicaragua after the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution in Plaza Juan Pablo II in Managua.

Local press reported that the attacks occurred in two places in Matagalpa, with the first taking place along Pan-American highway and the second in the town of San Ramon.

In a public statement to local press, Sadrach Zeledon, Political Secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Matagalpa, condemned the massacres. According to Zeledon, the attacks were conducted by heavily-armed men who shot at the buses the Sandinista followers used to return home.

Zeledon said: "We have a deep indignation and we feel powerless before this cowardly and criminal attack, a total massacre. It was a merciless ambush against poor people who celebrated our Revolution with joy and hope and in a peaceful environment.”