SOUTH VIETNAM: FIGHTING IN THU THUA FOR CONTROL OF HIGHWAY FOUR

Record ID: 376238

  • Title: SOUTH VIETNAM: FIGHTING IN THU THUA FOR CONTROL OF HIGHWAY FOUR
  • Date: 12th April 1975
  • Summary: 1. MS House on fire 4 ft 2. MS civilians + troops run along street 7 ft 3. MS troops in street 11 ft 4. MA troops in street 14 ft 5. MS soldiers on rooftop 17 ft 6. LA ditto 20 ft 7. MS soldiers fires into house 20 ft 8. MS soldier at doorway 22 ft 9. MS troops run in street under fire 25 ft 10.
  • Embargoed: 27th April 1975 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: THU THUA, MEKONG DELTA, SOUTH VIETNAM
  • Country: Vietnam
  • Reuters ID: LVA9N7OOGOQYWI4KNJJPJ6DMDONG
  • Story Text: Fires and street battles raged yesterday (Friday) in the Mekong Delta market town of Thu Thua as more communist raiding parties clashed with South Vietnamese government forces for control of Highway Four leading from Saigon to the rich delta.

    Highway Tour is now the most important route left in government hands.

    Throughout the morning, both sides moved back and forth exchanging fire. By lunchtime, the government forces said they hold Thu Thua but casualties were reported to be high.

    Thu Thua was one of a number of towns in the delta under attack yesterday. Like many others, it straddles Highway Four linking the capital Saigon to the country's "rice bowl".

    Military spokesmen said communist pressure in the delta would be a ??? factor in any campaign against Saigon.

    Meanwhile heavy fighting was reported today to be continuing around Xuan Loe on Highway One 25 miles north of Saigon. Communist casualties from both the Xuan Loc area and along Highway Four were said by the Saigon Command to be more than one-thousand dead in the past three days of fighting although its figures for its own dead have been much lower.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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