HO CHI MINH CITY — Nearly 100 people have gone on trial in Vietnam accused of involvement in coordinated deadly gun attacks on local government offices.

The attacks in the Central Highlands last year left nine people dead, including four police officers.

They took place in an area home to ethnic minorities, who complain of government persecution.

The prosecution argues that the attackers wanted to set up an independent state.

On the morning of 11 June, a group riding motorbikes used guns and other weapons to attack local political headquarters and police offices in the Cu Kuin district of Dak Lak province, about 300km (186 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City.

Nine people were killed, including four police officers, two local officials and three civilians.

At the trial, which began on Tuesday and is expected to last 10 days, 98 people were charged with terrorism, one with hiding criminals and one other with facilitating illegal immigration, state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

Punishment for terrorist offences in Vietnam can include the death penalty. Amnesty International has said it believes that "scores" of executions are carried out in the country each year.

Six of the accused are being tried in absentia, and are under international arrest warrants.

It is illegal for civilians in Vietnam to own firearms, and gun violence is extremely rare.

"The case was especially serious... with the terrorists aiming to overthrow the state, to establish the so-called Dega state," H'Yim Kdoh, deputy chair of Dak Lak People's Committee, was quoted as saying.

The Dega are a Christian ethnic minority living mainly in Vietnam's Central Highlands, some of whom seek autonomy from the state.

According to the report, H'Yim said that during the investigation the defendants confessed to the charges, but said they were forced into the attack.

Police confiscated 23 guns and rifles, two grenades, 1,199 bullets and other explosive devices following the attacks, which they described as "barbaric and inhumane".

Many ethnic and religious minorities in Vietnam have long complained about oppression at the hands of the Communist Party, which dominates the country's one-party political system. — BBC