Vietnam detains 20 following mass land eviction

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Witnesses and state media say authorities in northern Vietnam have detained 20 people after thousands of police evicted farmers from their land to make way for a satellite city.

A protester who gave her name only as Thinh says more than 1,000 villagers were overpowered by some 3,000 police and militiamen, many of them in full riot gear, during Tuesday’s incident.

She says villagers had camped out at their farms overnight. Police fired tear gas and smoke grenades to disperse the farmers, who pelted them with rock and bricks.

Wednesday’s Thanh Nien newspaper says 20 villagers were detained for allegedly attacking officials.

The Ecopark project was awarded to a private company in 2004 to develop a satellite city in Hung Yen province.

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