The government has listed two political groups operating in the United States as “terrorist organisations”, accusing them of orchestrating attacks and promoting a secessionist agenda, Cambodia’s internal security agency said on Wednesday.
The groups are the North Carolina-headquartered Montagnard Support Group Inc (MSGI) and Montagnard Stand for Justice (MSFJ), which was established in Thailand, the Ministry of Public Security said
Both operate in the United States and are accused of involvement in deadly attacks in the Central Highlands region in June 2023 that killed nine people, including four policemen.
The US embassy in Hanoi and the two groups did not respond to requests for comment.
Montagnards, or “mountain people” in French, are an ethnic minority from Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Many are Protestant Christians who sided with the United States during the Vietnam War.
The communist government has long been sensitive to the activities of overseas-based dissident groups led by members of Vietnam’s vast diaspora, typically calling them “reactionaries”.
It has listed as terrorist groups several organisations that have pledged allegiance to the defunct state of South Vietnam, which ceased to exist when the Communist North won the Vietnam War in 1975.
The two groups listed on Wednesday had recruited ethnic minority people in Vietnam, trained them and instructed them to “carry out terrorist activities, incite protests, kill officials and civilians, sabotage state assets and try to establish their own states”, the ministry said. — Reuters
