Almost 40 arrested over 9 deaths in Vietnam police station attacks

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, June 13 (EFE).- Vietnamese police arrested 39 people for the assault with firearms on two police stations last weekend in central Vietnam, which has left nine deaths so far, the government reported Tuesday.

The public security ministry said in a statement on its website that the last 10 arrests occurred Monday night, coupled with the surrenders of two suspects, for the attack in Cu Kuin county, Dak Lak province.

Law enforcement said it continues to search for more suspects, while encouraging all those involved to turn themselves in to receive better judicial treatment.

Vietnamese authorities offered little information about this unusual incident, in a country where the possession of firearms is prohibited and the black market is very limited.

The press, controlled by the government, has not offered any further details or possible motives for the assault and has not given special importance to the event, after several digital publications Sunday deleted more detailed news about the attack.

Among the dead are four police officers, two neighborhood leaders and three civilians, without the authorities having reported whether there were also victims among the attackers.

The images that appeared in some Vietnamese media show several handcuffed suspects, as well as the rifles and knives with which they attacked the police stations.

For decades, the mountains in the center of the country where the incident occurred have been a violent hotspot in Vietnam, with clashes over land and various ethnic minorities opposed to the communist regime, especially the so-called “Montagnards.” They’re a group of various ethnicities who fought for the United States side during the Vietnam War.

Radio Free Asia reported in April that in the same region where the attack took place, police beat dozens of locals from the Ebe minority who were opposed to a drainage project for fear that it would contaminate the waters of a lake on which their subsistence depends.

At least three were hospitalized and 12 were detained with injuries to the head, mouth, ears and shoulders, a witness told Radio Free Asia.

Clashes over land confiscations that owners consider unfair are one of the rare reasons for clashes between authorities and the Vietnamese population. EFE

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