INDO-CHINA WAR Communist bid to gain territory

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33064, 3 November 1972, Page 9

INDO-CHINA WAR Communist bid to gain territory

(N.Z.P.A. -Reuter—Copyright) VIENTIANE, November 2. North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troops have launched a general offensive in Northern Laos, in a bid to cut all links between Vientiane and the Royal capital of Luang Prabang.

At the same time, North Vietnamese forces have overrun a strategic town between Phnom Penh and the coast, widening their stranglehold on one of the Cambodian capital’s most important supply routes.

In Vietnam, Communist forces made 142 attacks on South Vietnamese positions in the 24 hours ending at dawn today — the highest number since the present North Vietnamese offensive began at the end of March.

But Government forces recaptured two hamlets and a village near Saigon, after these had been in Communist hands for several days.

A South Vietnamese miliary spokesman has also announced that the former American special forces camp at Ben Het, in the Central Highlands, had been retaken after being in Communist hands for three weeks. South Vietnamese rangers recaptured the camp two days ago. Advance in Laos A Laotian Army spokesman in Vientiane, General Thingphan Knoksy, told reporters: “The enemy is advancing now, by massive infiltration, towards Vang Vieng, about 60 miles north of the capital. “North Vietnamese troops, supported by tanks, are concentrated near Muong Suoi, about 100 miles north-east of Vientiane, apparently ready to launch an offensive in the direction of Slap Houkhoun, in a bid to cut communications between the capital and Luang Prbang by Route No. 13.

“Other enemy troops have been seen moving towards Muong Xay, in northern Laos.”

The Vientiane Government and the Communist Pathet Lao delegations to the peace talks in the capital have

agreed to hold their next session on November 7, but observers believe that neither side will attempt to get down to serious discussion before Prince Souvanna Phouma, the neutralist Prime Minister, returns from France in two weeks time. The two delegations have confined their preliminary meetings to procedural questions. Cambodian fears Cambodian Army officers say that the town of Trapeang Kraleng, 35 miles south-west of the capital, on Highway No. 4, was overrun this morning, with the loss of several hundred Government troops. The North Vietnamese attack on Highway No. 4, which had been untouched all this year, has aroused fears that the Communists are moving in for the longpredicted offensive to isolate Phnom Penh completely before any cease-fire. A pall of black smoke hung over the burning town this morning, as thousands of refugees fled up the road on bicycles or carts drawn by frightened oxen, or on foot. Several battalions of Government reinforcements, hastily assembled from outlying areas, moved up towards the town later this morning, but stopped short of the Communist positions, without launching any frontal assault. The North Vietnamese attack has also cut off a sideroad to the main dam at the international Prek Thnot project. However, there are now no foreign experts on the site. The project has been largely in mothballs since it was first attacked a year ago, but Australian, Israeli, and Japanese experts still

regularly visit the site to maintain equipment and irrigation works. For the last three months, Highway No. 4 has resumed its former importance as a supply line for Phnom Penh’s 1.5 million population, along with the Mekong River route from South Vietnam. The other main supply routes, Highway No. 5 to the rice-growing north-western region, and Highway No. 1, to Saigon, have already been cut. Vietnam activity In Vietnam, the United States Military Command reports only four missions by Stratofortress bombers over North Vietnam — all round Dong Hoi, about 40 miles north of the Demilitarised Zone. In the south, however, 21 missions were flown, including six within 20 miles of Saigon. The command also reports that 12 Americans were killed when a large twinrotor Chinook helicopter crashed in the Mekong Delta area on Tuesday, while on a non-operational flight from Saigon to Can Tho. The command says that all on board the helicopter are believed to have been killed, but that the number of passengers on the flight has not yet been officially confirmed. The pilot is understood to have reported by radio after take-off that he had 22 on board.

The Chinook, with a crew of five, can carry up to 40 passengers.