SOUTH VIETNAM: 134 NORTH VIETNAMESE REGULARS KILLED IN ATTACK ON PHUOC LONG, SOUTH VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT OUTPOST

Record ID: 355306

  • Title: SOUTH VIETNAM: 134 NORTH VIETNAMESE REGULARS KILLED IN ATTACK ON PHUOC LONG, SOUTH VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT OUTPOST
  • Date: 29th October 1967
  • Summary: Phuoc Long outpost; dead North Vietnamese; captured weapons and ammunition. Initials IF/V/BH/FB Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th November 1967 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PHUOC LONG; SOUTH VIETNAM
  • Country: Vietnam
  • Reuters ID: LVA220Y48H5J2L34R24WS08PJD9L
  • Story Text: A five-hour raid on Friday (27 October) of the Phuoc Long, South Vietnamese Government outpost, situated some 71 miles north-east of Saigon, by North Vietnamese soldiers, ended in death for 134 of the attackers. The post was being defended by 140 South Vietnamese government troops.

    The attack came just before midnight on Friday, as the North Vietnamese moved out of the bamboo thickets and swamps surrounding the post. Breaking through the protective minefield, they are reported to have come into point blank conflict with the South Vietnamese.

    The outnumbered troops were able to call upon a number of fighter bombers, armed helicopters, and a C-47 'Dragonship' - a low-flying aircraft armed with machine-guns firing 18,000 rounds a minute -- in their defence. As opposed to the massive North Vietnamese casualties, only 7 South Vietnamese troops died. Among the 21 wounded were two American military advisers.

    Dawn brought an end to the battle. The North Vietnamese were identified as belonging to the Northern Army's 88th Regiment. Their armoury - providing a vast cache of captured weapons for the Southern soldiers - included automatic rifles, light machine-guns, grenade launchers, rockets, flame-throwers, and 'Bangalore Torpedoes' - bamboo tubes filled with explosives.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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