Six rangers attacked by villagers in central Vietnam over forest dispute
Six forest rangers in central Vietnam were injured after being attacked by dozens of villagers angered over a government ban on planting cashew and rubber trees, officials said Friday.
About 35 villagers, most of them from the Hmong ethnic minority group, armed with machetes and sticks, also stole a rifle from a ranger during Monday's incident, said Than Van Minh, director of the Quang Tin state forest farm in Dak Nong province, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
The attack began when the rangers stopped them from planting the trees on forest land they had slashed and burned earlier, he said. One ranger remained hospitalized Friday with head injuries, while the others suffered only minor injuries, he said.
Minh said the provincial government had planned to reforest the land upstream to help prevent flooding.
Friday's Labor newspaper reported that some 60 villagers armed with machetes threatened to attack the People's Committee building and police station in Dak Rlap District until the two detained villagers were released, it said.
Minh confirmed the two villagers were freed Thursday.
The Central Highlands was the scene of massive anti-government protests by members of ethnic minority groups, most of them Christians, in early 2001 and over Easter weekend last year.
The protesters claimed the government imposed restrictions on their religious faith and confiscated their ancestral lands. The protests resulted in major government crackdowns on the area and a mass exodus of refugees to neighboring Cambodia.
The Associated Press - June 03, 2005.
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