Cambodians lose more ground

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33251, 14 June 1973, Page 17

Cambodians lose more ground

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) PHNOM PENH, June 13. The Communists have gained more ground on the Cambodian capital’s southwestern front, surrounding a Government garrison 11 miles away on Highway No. 3, and infiltrating two other positions, nine miles from the capital, on Highway No. 4.

American fighter-bombers from bases in Thailand raided Communist positions in both battle zones all day long yesterday, in support of Government ground troops, and the sound of exploding bombs and shells was heard in Phnom Penh from early morning to dusk. The insurgents resorted to further use of tear-gas grenades on Highway No. 4, with the intention of weakening the Government soldiers, and making them defenceless. Field reports say that insurgent forces encircled a battalion garrisoned at the district town of Prey Totung, on Highway No. 3, cutting it off from the capital. Later, an infantry column pushing down the road to relieve Prey Totung’s defenders ran into heavy fire, and withdrew. Another Government garrison. 16 miles farther south, in the provincial capital of Tram Khnar, has remained isolated since it was encircled several weeks ago, but military sources say that the troops there have sufficient ammunition and food to continue holding out indefinitely. The Communists’ advance on Highway No. 4, over which Phnom Penh receives most of its American military-aid equipment from Kompong Som, has been their largest single campaign in their offensive against the Phnom Penh Government since it began in early Feb-

ruary with an assault on Highway No. 1. The insurgents now control most of the Mekong River’s shoreline from Phnom Penh to the South Vietnamese border, about 60 miles away, and their shore batteries have reduced traffic along the river—once Cambodia’s liveliest trade route—to an occasional small convoy.