Guerrillas Again Attack Saigon

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31615, 28 February 1968, Page 15

Guerrillas Again Attack Saigon

(.N.Z.P.A. -Reuter—Copy right) SAIGON, February 27. Viet Cong rockets and mortar fire set a number of houses on fire in Saigon today in a fresh wave of attacks on parts of the city and on the Tan Son Nhut air base on the outskirts of Saigon.

Tan Son Nhut, which is both a civilian airport and the military air base where General William Westmoreland, commander of the United States forces in Vietnam, has his headquarters, came under two rocket attacks within four hours, but, because of the restrictions placed yesterday on reports of assaults on bases like Khe Sanh and Tan Son Nhut, a Government military spokesman could give no details.

Two residential areas of Saigon, one in the suburb of Gia Danh and the other near the Chi Hoa National Prison, were pounded by heavy mortar fire, and a Government military spokesman said one civilian was killed and a number of houses set ablaze.

Some mortar shells and rockets exploded near a Boman Catholic church only 500 yards from the Saigon racecourse, destroying several houses and wounding a number of civilians. Ambushes The attacking guerrillas also hit the Le Van Duyet heaquarters of Saigon’s military governor with six rounds of recoilless rifle fire, wounding five Government soldiers.

An American military spokesman said two groups of irregulars, led by United States Special Forces men, killed 47 Viet Cong in two

separate ambushes near the Cambodian border yesterday. One of the Special Forces teams, leading a force of Nung tribesmen, ambushed a Viet Cong battalion about 75 miles north-west of Saigon, and blew up an armoured vehicle, killing 30 guerrillas. Nung casualties in the action were described as light, and there were none among the Special Forces. The other Special Forces team, with Irregular Defence Group civilians, attacked a Viet Cong force travelling in a heavy truck about 80 miles north of Saigon. Seventeen Viet Cong were killed and two suspects were captured. The truck was destroyed. One Special Forces trooper was wounded and the I.D.G. casualties were described as very light. Army Changes Military sources in Saigon said today that more South Vietnamese Army generals and other senior officers were about to be replaced in “a drastic reorganisation and re- , vitalisation of the armed I forces.”

The sources yesterday disclosed the second change within three days among the commanders of the nation's four corps areas, or war zones.

Major-General Lu Mong | Lan, a former Military Train--1 ing Department chief, was ; brought back to take over the ! Second Corps area, which includes the Central Highlands and the threatened cities of Pleiku, Kontum, and Dak To. The general, who replaces Lieutenant-General Vinh Loc, is regarded not only as a military expert, but politically astute enough to handle the Montagnard tribesmen, who for years have been made restless by Viet Cong promises of autonomy. The Government on Friday chose Major-General Nguyen Due Thang to head the Fourth Corps, which covers the Mekong Delta, where 51 million Vietnamese live, many of them under the unchallenged rule of the Viet Cong. General Thang has an outstanding reputation for honesty and efficiency.