- Title: KAMPUCHEA: Life inside a Guerrilla camp
- Date: 12th August 1981
- Summary: BANTAYAMPIL, TAMERIN, KAMPUCHEA (RECENT JULY 1981) ( REUTERS KAMPUCHEA) GV Guerrillas constructing classroom hut in camp SV ZOOM TO CU Guerrillas thatching roof (2 shots) SVs Men guarding camp (2 shots) GV Guerrillas on field training exercise GV Guerrillas in trench with ammunition cache CU & GV Mortar box. Guerrillas holding mortar shell (2 shots) SV Trainee with rifle CU Captured ammunition GV Hospital wing with wounded guerrilla on crutches LV Camp with rifles stacked outside GV Soldiers patrolling camp GVs Guerrillas carrying ammunition boxes as instructor watches (2 shots) GVs Trainees cooking meal outside tents in living quarters (4 shots) GV Soldiers marching along jungle track
- Embargoed: 27th August 1981 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cambodia
- City:
- Country: Cambodia
- Topics: Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAEDTEJP4HHAUYJF6R7FUOSG70Q
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: INTRODUCTION: In Kampuchea, the Vietnamese-backed government of Heng Samrin is still being opposed by guerrilla forces. Supporters of the deposed Khmer Rouge government of Pol Pot remain active in the west of the country, near the Thai border. They have been involved in skirmishes with another insurgent faction which opposes the Heng Samrin regime, the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF). One of the KPNLF's training camps is at Bantayampil near the border with Thailand.
SYNOPSIS: These guerrillas, seen here building a schoolhouse, have eight training camps. They claim to be responsible for 80,000 people in newly-created refugee villages near the Thai border. The men are followers of Son Sann, a former Cambodian Prime Minister, who is training an army of 10,000 armed men to oppose the Vietnamese-backed government.
The guerrillas, commanded by General Dien Del, are carrying out a field training exercise. They are keen to supplement their weaponry with ammunition captured from the Vietnamese government forces, and from Pol Pot's faction, with whom they have failed to form a united front. The guerrillas have suffered heavy casualties in the fighting.
The KPBLF guerrillas are reported to have received at least one shipment of arms from the Chinese, who are giving substantial backing to the rival Pol Pot faction. And Son Sann is known to need more arms.
For the guerrillas, life has its unavoidable domestic side. Son Sann has sought funds from the United States for food, and is striving to maintain loyalty in the villages he controls. Preparing for battle, these forces are vastly outnumbered both by the Vietnamese government forces and the rival forces of the Khmer Rouge. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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