Fewer Casualties, More Offense Reported by Salvador Military

Casualties declined among El Salvador’s armed forces in the 12 months ending June 30 despite an increase in military offensives against leftist guerrillas, the country’s Defense Minister said Tuesday.

It was the second year in a row that the total number of dead, wounded and missing officially fell in the five-year-old civil war. The claims were made in the annual report of Gen. Carlos Vides Casanova to El Salvador’s National Assembly.

Combat deaths dropped from 1,055 to 807, a result of improved medical care and diminished guerrilla activity, Western observers said. The number of wounded rose from 1,783 to 1,885. Soldiers listed as missing decreased from 259 to 142.

Operations Increase

Vides Casanova’s report also indicated a significant increase in both large- and small-scale army operations. The number of big sweeps, meant to clear out guerrilla strongholds, jumped from 42 to 75; small patrols, designed to harass rebels, more than tripled, from 6,430 to 20,447.

The report also gave indications of the rapid expansion of the armed forces, backed by millions of dollars in U.S. military aid. Increases were reported in:

--Manpower, about 8%, to an unofficially estimated 40,000 troops, including police forces. Less than five years ago, there were only about 9,000 soldiers.

--Trucks acquired, to 345, compared to 100 the year before.

--Vehicles undergoing armor plating, because of the threat of urban warfare, to 100, from 11 the previous year.

--Military construction, with building going on at several army bases.

Vides Casanova didn’t mention the big jump in air-transport capacity from stepped-up U.S. deliveries. The combat helicopter fleet doubled to about 50. The U.S. also supplied two AC-47 prop-driven aircraft mounted with rapid-fire machine guns and special sights to target rebel concentrations on the ground.

Ambushes, Sabotage

This increased size and mobility forced the rebels in the last year to all but abandon taking on the army directly. Instead, they concentrated on ambushes and mining military routes, along with sabotage of electric lines and transport connections.

Although that development meant that the war, in a sense, stabilized, the army made few permanent inroads into guerrilla-dominated zones.

The rebels still control cotton- and coffee-rich sections of Usulutan province and bedevil efforts to clear and develop San Vicente province. They continue to hold the massive Guazapa Mountain that nudges close to San Salvador, and their northern refuges in Chalatenango and Morazan provinces remain beyond military control.

“There will always be guerrillas in El Salvador,” a Western observer commented.