The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said it is looking into unconfirmed reports of deaths following protests by ethnic minority Hmong people in a remote mountain area near the Laos border.
Vietnamese soldiers clashed with thousands of protesters calling for greater autonomy and religious freedom, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing an unidentified military official. Twenty-eight people were killed and hundreds are missing, according to Washington-based humanitarian advocacy group the Center for Public Policy Analysis.