Struggle To Hold Hill In Laos

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30471, 19 June 1964, Page 11

Struggle To Hold Hill In Laos

(N.Z. P.A. -Reuter— Copyright) VIENTIANE, June 18. A Laotian Air Force T2B fighter-bomber today hit pro-Communist Pathet Lao positions on Phou Koutt hill, north of the Plain of Jars, as small-scale fighting continued.

General Amkha Soukhavong, military adviser to the Prime Minister told A.A.P.Reuter the fighting was continuing and planes were supporting the Neutralists. Radio reports reaching Vientiane last night said the Neutralists withdrew from the hill after holding it for less than one day in the face of Pathet Lao counter-attack. Phou Koutt commands the road to Muong Soui, the last Neutralist stronghold in the Plain of Jars area, 12 miles away. 11 Killed

Neutralist battalions which recaptured the hill on Tuesday might have merely abandoned it after the Pathet Lao bombarded their positions. The struggle for the hill was expected to continue.

Reports said the Neutralists were reported to have suffered 11 killed and 30 wounded in the last two days of fighting on Phou Koutt. The 4000 ft hill which stretches for two miles has changed hands four times in the last three weeks. Western military sources here said it was not clear whether the Pathet Lao actually occupied the hill late yesterday. The sources claimed three