Action On Eve Of Tet Truce

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32215, 6 February 1970, Page 13

Action On Eve Of Tet Truce

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) ‘ SAIGON, February 5. American and South Vietnamese troops killed 105 North Vietnamese and Viet Gong in three actions yesterday on the eve of the Tet Lunar New Year ceasefires proclaimed by both sides, military spokesmen reported today.

A Government spokesman said that 61 guerrillas were killed—4o by air strikes—in two Mekong Delta battles late yesterday near My Tho city, 31 miles south-west of Saigon.

The South Vietnamese, ■who also captui-ed 11 prisoners, lost three men killed.

Forty-four Viet Cong and four Americans died in fighting near the Cambodian border early yes-j terday.

The Viet Cong began a fourday cease-fire in honour of Tet at 7 a.m. today. The cease-fire overlapped a 24hpur truce ordered by the South Vietnamese and their allies from 6 p.m. The cease-fire is the' fifteenth proclaimed by the Viet Cong in the war, and the fourteenth ordered by Saigon.. which ignored a Viet Cong truce last September in mourning for the late North j Vietnamese, President, Ho 1 Chi Minh Holiday Spirit

The holiday spirit was sweeping South Vietnam as families throughout the country prepared to welcome in the lunar new year. But while Vietnamese families prepare to usher out the Year of the Rooster and welcome the Year of the Dog, the South Vietnamese and allied armies will remain on the alert.

Two years ago Tet hit the world headlines when the Viet Cong launched their biggest offensive of the war. Attacking cities throughout South Vietnam, the guerrillas caught many Government units under-strength because soldiers had gone home tp celebrate the holiday. Hanoi’s Tet Radio Hanoi reports that; North Vietnam, in spite of I its battered economy, is also! preparing to celebrate Tet ini a big way with merchandise! ranging from fruit to small

appliances piled in department stores, shops and even ■ mobile kiosks throughout the I country. For weeks now, South Vietnamese families have been buying food, liquor and gifts for the celebrations. Adults and children alike

have bought new clothes—it is unlucky to wear old clothes at Tet as it is unlucky to clean house or owe a debt. This year Government troops have been confined to barracks at night during the festival period, in spite of intelligence predictions that no Viet Cong onslaught is planned. Fire-crackers, traditionally set off to frighten away the evil spirits which roam the earth at Tet, have been banned again this year. Their sharp explosions can too easily cover up a burst of gunfire, as Government troops learned to their cost in 1968.