Friday, May 12, 1972
Cambodia Fears Reds Will Take 3rd Capital
PHNOM PENH (UPI) --Cambodian military sources said Wednesday they are "concerned" about the southern province capital of Takeo with the fall of two small nearby positions Tuesday.One skirmish was reported within two miles of Takeo, 40 miles south of Phnom Penh, Tuesday.Within the past week at least five Cambodian positions in Takeo and neighboring Kompot Province have been abandoned by government troops in the face of what the command has described as "intense Communist pressure."The towns and villages lie within 20 miles of the southern Vietnam border opposite IV Military Corps.The military sources said a Communist force of some 2,000 Khmer Rouge and North Vietnamese, attacking government positions in the area, was traveling by truck along the roads in the region.In the past 30 days, two southeastern province capitals, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng, have been cut off to all but air resupply by the recent Communist activity in Cambodia. Reports from that region, however, indicate the main Communist aim was to cut off supply routes and open infiltration routes to Vietnam, rather than capture Prey Veng and Svay Rieng."Cambodia Fears Reds Will Take 3rd Capital", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Friday, May 12, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.