HANOI – Villagers in Vietnam’s capital have seized police hostages during a violent clash over a land dispute.

Reports say at least 30 people, many of them police, are being held captive in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district, about 30 kilometres south-west of the capital.

The standoff began over the weekend after police arrested a number of villagers who have been involved in a long simmering land dispute with the authorities.

According to the Associated Press, social activist La Viet Dung said on Monday that villagers were still holding more than 30 people, including over 20 Hanoi riot police, as well as local policemen and officials. He said authorities asked the villagers to release them but they refused to do so.

Journalists and others have been blocked from entering the area to verify local reports.

State-run newspaper VnExpress quoted a villager identified only as Loan as saying, “The policemen have been given sufficient food and drinks by us and are being treated politely.”

Another villager was quoted as saying, “It’s the desire of the villagers that land taken back must be conducted in accordance with regulations.”

Land disputes are frequent in communist Vietnam, where the state owns all land and citizens are vulnerable to seizures for use by government-run conglomerates.

– with AP