US condemns Dak Lak attacks, vows cooperation

At a press roundtable in Hanoi on Monday, Knapper said the U.S. “in no way condoned what happened”, opposes violence in any shape or form, and condemns the act of using violence to achieve goals.

“We offer our condolences to the families of those who were killed in that incident and condemn in the strongest possible terms what happened.”

Last month, deadly attacks on two People’s Committee offices and police stations in the Central Highlands’ Dak Lak Province resulted in nine deaths.

The Ministry of Public Security called the attacks reckless and barbaric, and said that one person among the suspects was a member of an organization based in the U.S., who received instructions to infiltrate Vietnam and perform the attacks.

“We stand ready to cooperate and however necessary to work with the Vietnamese government on trying to know more about what happened, who’s behind it,” Knapper said.

On security cooperation between Vietnam and the U.S., Knapper said the U.S. and Vietnam have “benefited greatly over the years from increasingly deepening partnership between the Ministry of Public Security and American agencies like the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and others”.

Knapper said Vietnam and the U.S. are now tightly cooperating on multiple transnational issues, including narcotics, human trafficking and wildlife trafficking.

Over 90 people have been arrested so far to be investigated on multiple charges, including terrorism.

The political situation in Dak Lak and the Central Highlands has stabilized and people’s lives have returned to normal, the public security ministry has announced.