- Title: KHMER REPUBLIC: GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ITS TROOPS HAVE REOPENED HIGHWAY FIVE.
- Date: 22nd June 1974
- Summary: 1. GV PAN FROM Destroyed bridge TO destroyed pagoda on Highway Five 0.13 2. MV & CU TILT DOWN INT Buddha statue (2 shots) 0.22 3. SV PAN Injured woman carried by man 0.30 4. SV PAN Dead man carried on stretcher by soldiers followed by weeping wife (2 shots) 0.43 5. SV INT Wounded woman laid down 0.46 6. SV Wounded man given first aid 0.51 7. GV PAN Palm trees laid across road as roadblock 0.56 8. GV APC's into position as aircraft fly overhead (3 shots) 1.14 9. CU Soldier on radio 'phone 1.14 10. SCU & GV APC's firing (2 shots) 1.22 11. GV PAN Destroyed ferry boat on banks of river 1.30 12. MV Soldiers advancing 1.38 Initials BB/1828 NC/DW/BB/1842 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th July 1974 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HIGHWAY FIVE, NR. PHNOM PENH, KHMER REPUBLIC
- Country: Cambodia
- Reuters ID: LVA5UE1XARV6MHOTZEZGZ6TQRI3A
- Story Text: The Khmer Government has claimed that its troops have reopened Highway Five, about 20 miles (32 kms) northwest of Phnom Penh.
The new Information Minister, Chann Son, said Government troops killed 543 insurgents and captured 22 in a two-month offensive to reopen the Highway.
The Highway has been enemy occupied for almost a year, according to the Khmer Government. Government soldiers have reoccupied the village of Prac Kdam, 19 miles (31 kms) north of Phnom Penh, and are resting, awaiting an imminent battle in the village of Long Vak.
Government forces were also reported to have reopened part of Highway Four, which links the capital to the seaport of Kompong Som. The road was reported cut a week ago by more than 10,000 insurgents threatening Kompong Som.
In the capital, three civilians were killed on Friday (21 June) as three 107 rockets fell near the U.S. Embassy and the Presidential Palace.
SYNOPSIS: Highway Five -- a road that runs north from the Khmer capital of Phnom Penh -- has been under siege for a long time. According to the new Government, Communist-led insurgents have dominated the Highway for the past year, and the damage has been intense.
After months of almost constant fighting along the Highway, the Government says its troops have once again gained control of theirs vital road. The new Information Minister, Chann Son, said Government troops had reopened the road, about twenty miles northwest of the capital.
The Government troops reoccupied the road after two months of intensive fighting. Five hundred and forty three insurgents were killed, he said, and twenty two captured. Government casualties were not announced.
The Government troops have reoccupied the village of Prac Ddam, nineteen miles north of Phnom Penh. The Visnews cameraman who took this film said the troops were resting, awaiting an imminent battle in the village of Long Vak.
Intermitting fighting still continued along the road. Further south, the capital of Phnom Penh was attacked on Friday by three one-oh-seven millimeter rockets, which landed near the U.S. Embassy and the Presidential Palace. And Highway Four, leading from Phnom Penh to Kompong Som, was reported to have been re-occupied by the Government.
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