Saigon retaliating

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 15

Saigon retaliating

(NZ.P. A.-Renter—Copyright) SAIGON, April 19. j South Vietnam has thrown two regiments into a counter-attack to recapture an outpost overrun by North Vietnamese troops.

I the defence of the city ofj jPleiku and its capture by ('North Vietnamese force's: ,i posed a direct threat to JPleiku. Two companies of Govern1 ment Rangers abandoned the : hill after a two-day battle , which left 506 North Vietnamese troops killed, 61 I Government soldiers killed, , 76 wounded and a number , of missing. i The Command also reported ; heavy fighting in Long ; Khanh province, about 65 kilometres east of Saigon. It said that 78 Communist ’ troops were killed in two separate clashes south of the . Province’s capital of Xuan 1 Loc.

Government military sources said today that the move follows one of the bloodiest battles in the Highlands since the ceasefire. Advanced elements of two infantry and armoured cavalry regiments, about three thousand men, were blocked between 200 and 500 yards from Hill 711, abandoned by Government Rangers last Tuesday.

Military sources said the counter attack, supported by ait strikes, was launched yesterday. The Saigon Command claimed that 17 Communist troops were killed in an initial clash, for the loss of one Government soldier killed and two wounded. The sources quoted the ;Commander of the Central Highlands, Major General (Nguyen Van Toan. as saying ■that Hill 711 was vital to