KHMER REPUBLIC: REINFORCEMENTS DEFEND NEAK LUONG ON MEKONG ... PHNOM PENH'S LIFE-LINE.

Record ID: 648250

  • Title: KHMER REPUBLIC: REINFORCEMENTS DEFEND NEAK LUONG ON MEKONG ... PHNOM PENH'S LIFE-LINE.
  • Date: 29th November 1974
  • Summary: 1. GV Man fishing in Makong 0.08 2. GV PAN Vehicles from town and on to ferry boat 0.26 3. GV & SV Ditto (2 shots) 0.37 4. SV & MV People in market (2 shots) 0.46 5. KV TRAVEL SHOT Troops clambering on bus along road 0.56 6. SV PAN & SCU Families and troops on road (2 shots) 1.10 7. GV Sampan 1.14 8. MV Troops taking ammunition towards sampan 1.22 9. GV & SVs Loaded sampan along Mekong with troops (3 shots) 1.38 10. GROUND TO AIR SHOT Gunship straffing 1.42 11. GV Troops off sampan 1.47 12. GROUND TO AIR SHOT Straffing gunship 1.50 13. MV & SV Troops moving forward on foot 2.02 14. GROUND TO AIR SHOT Straffing gunship 2.08 Initials BB/2353 EW/DW/BB/0017 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 14th December 1974 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEAK LOUNG, 31 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PHNOM PENH, KHMER REPUBLIC
  • Country: Cambodia
  • Reuters ID: LVA63FNRV7NXZ43P955CHTZM5D9D
  • Story Text: The town of Neak Luong 31 miles (50 Kms) south-east of Phnom Penh, capital of the Khmer Republic, has come under heavy attack from Khmer insurgents in the last few days.

    The ferry-crossing town controls a vital stretch of the Mekong River ... vital because 80 per cent of all supplies -- military and civilian -- reach the capital by river convoy. Should Khmer Government forces lose control of the river, the administration of President Lon Nol would be placed in an extremely difficult predicament.

    Last week, Khmer insurgents launched a heavy artillery attack and ground attacks on a series of army positions north of Neak Luong, forcing Government troops to fall back to within two miles of the town and very close to the Mekong river. The insurgents used 105mm artillery in the area ... the first time it has been used since they attacked Phnom Penh itself earlier in the year.

    Since the beginning of the attack on Neak Luong, Khmer Government forces have consolidated their positions ... but the insurgent press towards the river -- Phnom Penh's lifeline -- continues to constitute a grave threat to the security of the country. The attack co-incided with the United Nations's debate on President Lon Nol's continued representation of the Khmer Republic in the General Assembly.

    Neak Luong first his the headlines in March 1970, when it became the first town to fall to North Vietnamese forces. In 1973, in came to prominence again when a United States' B52 bomber accidentally hit the area, killing several hundred people.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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