HANOI: Authorities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands said that shootings took place at two police offices on Sunday, leaving many persons dead and injured.
According to the website of the ministry of public security, six suspects have been detained in relation to the shootings that took place in the Cu Kuin area of Dak Lak province.
It stated that investigators were looking for further suspects. According to the website, the attacks on the police stations in the communes of Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur took place early on Sunday.
It did not give precise numbers but stated that a number of individuals, including police, local authorities, and citizens were killed and injured.
For a statement, the police could not be reached right away.
The authoritarian government of Vietnam views the Central Highlands, which are home to several ethnic minorities, as a sensitive region. It has long been a source of unrest over problems like land rights.
During the protracted conflict in Vietnam, a few tribes in the region—collectively known as Montagnards—supported the south, which was backed by the US. While some ask for more autonomy, others elsewhere support the region’s independence.
Earlier on Sunday, a number of official media sites retracted their articles about the event before reissuing them.
In Vietnam, where it is prohibited for residents to acquire guns and there is a small illicit market for weapons, gun violence is exceedingly rare.
In January 2020, four persons were shot and killed at a cockfighting betting ring that was operating illegally outside Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City.
In a second uncommon shooting in 2016, a coworker in the northern province of Yen Bai killed two senior officials at their desk before turning the pistol on himself.
