The death toll from weeks of violent unrest in Nicaragua rose to 100 Thursday as embattled President Daniel Ortega rejected calls to step down and the Catholic Church, which has tried to mediate the conflict, refused to resume the dialogue.

At least 16 people were killed and 88 injured on Wednesday and into the early hours of Thursday as pro and anti-government supporters clashed in a number of cities, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) said Thursday in an updated toll. It said this was one of the most violent days yet in a wave of protests that began on April 18 against Ortega and his ruling party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Over 900 have been injured.

Police deputy chief Francisco Diaz told pro-government broadcaster Canal 4 that 182 civilians and 36 police officers sustained gunshot injuries.

Diaz attributed the violence to "criminal groups," while a statement by Ortega linked those groups with the opposition.

Ortega denounced a "conspiracy" by the opposition aimed at "terrorizing" the people, referring to Wednesday's unrest.

"There are no shock forces or paramilitaries close to the government, so we cannot accept that we are accused of tragic and painful events that we have not provoked and we would never provoke," he said in a statement.

The Bishops' Conference denounced action by "armed groups close to the government against the civilian population" and said it was impossible to now resume dialogue in which the Catholic Church had mediated between civil society organizations and the authorities.

The army meanwhile denied that security forces had cooperated with paramilitary groups to crack down on demonstrators.

"We shall never accept slanderous information. The Nicaraguan army has absolute control over its forces," according to the statement.

Installations of the official radio station Radio Ya and a rural credit cooperative were burned and the facade of the national baseball stadium was destroyed.

The Central American country has been in turmoil since April 17, when protests erupted against new taxes on old age and disability pensions, as well as an increase in social security contributions.