Viet Cong Mortar Barrage

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30725, 14 April 1965, Page 17

Viet Cong Mortar Barrage

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SAIGON, April 13. A heavy Viet Cong mortar barrage on three targets killed or wounded 50 South Vietnamese today. In the worst attack, 30 civilians were killed, a gov- 1 eminent spokesman said. In another attack guerrillas shelled a United States army advisers’ compound, wounding two American servicemen. The mortar attacks occurred soon after midnight in Quang Tri, 420 miles northwest of Saigon. Quang Tri is the provincial capital of South Vietnam’s j northern-most province and ; is only 20 miles from the : North Vietnam border. ; It is also only 25 miles from Hue where United States marine units are now deployed. The first attack was launched against the United

States advisers’ compound in Quang Tri. About 25 mortar shells rained down but only three landed in the compound. Several buildings were damaged and 25 barrels of fuel destroyed. Two South Vietnamese army units in the area came under heavy mortar fire soon after.

The second attack was centred on the first regiment command post of the 11th Vietnamese Army artillery battalion. About 100 rounds were fired into the post’s housing area, killing 30 civilians and wounding twp soldiers. The third attack was on the district headquarters of Hai Lang. Twenty rounds of mortar fire hit the headquarters, killing two Vietnamese soldiers and wounding six policemen and 10 civilians. At Da Nang, a United States Marine Corps mortar crew accidentally killed a Vietnamese peasant when a shell overshot the range during practice. A full investigation was ordered. There were fears that Com-

munist agitators might try to incite a demonstration against the 7500 Americans now in the area. In Saigon, a number of Vietnamese officers have disappeared amid rumours of arrests. The manoeuvring within South Vietnam’s military high command has all the earmarks of the kind of activity that has preceded previous coups.