Illegal loggers attack police, forest rangers in northern Vietnam Friday, November 08, 2002 By Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam — Illegal loggers in northwestern Vietnam assaulted a group of police officers and forest rangers, pelting them with stones and injuring several in a clash over contraband timber, a local official said Thursday. Three police officers were seriously injured and two forest rangers were hurt in the clash on Tuesday, said Lu Van Thung, chief forest ranger of Muong Lay District in Lai Chau, 550 kilometers (342 miles) northwest of Hanoi. Tipped off by villagers, six forest rangers went to retrieve 1.7 cubic meters (2.21 cubic yards) of illegally cut timber but were soon surrounded by a dozen loggers, Thung said. The rangers called in police reinforcements, but the loggers were aided by more than 100 villagers who fought off officials with rocks, he said. One of the forest rangers was taken hostage for a couple of hours before the district chief negotiated his release, Thung said. The villagers made off with the illegal timber, he said. Police are investigating the case, and three men have been identified as the leaders of the attacks. Several cases of forest rangers getting attacked by loggers have been reported this year in Vietnam, where many people illegally cut down trees for timber or to make way for coffee or tea crops. Copyright 2002, Associated Press All Rights Reserved