The five alleged illegal loggers arrested after a knife attack on a ranger in Yok Đôn National Park, Đắk Lắk. — Photo tuoitre.vn

ĐẮK LẮK — Police have arrested five illegal loggers who allegedly attacked a forest ranger in Yók Đôn National Park.

Ea Súp District police chief Colonel Cao Tiến Phu said on Friday morning that two police squads were dispatched to the scene on Tuesday night, just hours after the knife attack was reported.

“The police managed to track down and arrest all the loggers who attacked the ranger on Thursday night,” Phu said.

A knife believed to have been used in the attack on Y Thông Chỉ Byă was also recovered, he added.

The illegal loggers included Đắk Lắk locals Bun Lẹo Hwinh, 22, Y Gió Hwinh, 26, Y Thất Mjao, 23, and Y Khoang Mjao, 19, together with 22-year-old Lương Văn Huỳnh from the northern province of Cao Bằng.

On Tuesday night, two rangers dealing with illegal logging were suddenly rounded by a group of men who attacked them with knives and machetes.

Y Thông Chỉ Byă was slashed on the hand and was only rescued after his colleague fired a warning shot in the air.

Yok Đôn National Park deputy director Phạm Tuấn Linh told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that rangers had been repeatedly attacked by loggers over the last few years.

The rangers were equipped with some law enforcement gear but were banned from fighting back while under attack, he said, which made it their 'Achilles heel' when it came to dealing with increasingly aggressive loggers. — VNS