HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam's prime minister has ordered a probe into a guerrilla-style standoff with farmers who attempted to fend off a land eviction by laying homemade land mines and firing improvised shotguns.
Six police and army officers were injured Jan. 5 in the northern port city of Haiphong. State media have reported that Doan Van Vuon had long been at odds with authorities who had proposed evicting him from 19 hectares (47 acres) of swamp land leased in 1993 on a 14-year contract. He had converted the area into a seafood farm.
About 100 police officers and soldiers wearing bulletproof vests and riot gear advanced to forcibly seize the land when the attack allegedly began. The 49-year-old Vuon and three relatives were later arrested for attempted murder.
