Key Installation Captured, Cambodian Rebel Reports

A Cambodian resistance leader said Wednesday that his forces have captured a key military installation in western Cambodia and are advancing on a provincial capital.

Gen. Dien Del, deputy commander of the Kampuchean People’s National Liberation Front, said in an interview that after five days of fighting, Cambodian government troops’ “morale is low, their training is poor and they are abandoning their positions.”

He said the non-Communist resistance group’s offensive, launched last Saturday, has been a tremendous morale booster for the front, which had generally been considered the weakest of the three factions in the resistance coalition, which includes the Communist Khmer Rouge and troops loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

Dien Del denied that the offensive was coordinated with Khmer Rouge movements, despite evidence from the combat area that the Khmer Rouge and Sihanouk’s forces were helping to block government supplies and reinforcements.

The issue of coordination with the Khmer Rouge has come up in Washington this week in congressional debate on efforts to provide aid to the non-Communist resistance. Some congressmen have complained that such aid could find its way to the Khmer Rouge, which is blamed for the deaths of more than a million Cambodians during the three years the Khmer Rouge was in power in the 1970s.

Dien Del acknowledged that Khmer Rouge forces were attacking government positions simultaneously in northwest Cambodia, but added: “I don’t thank them. It’s their duty. I didn’t ask them for help.”

Dien Del said his forces captured a government military installation Wednesday at Kandoul, which is about seven miles from the Thai border on Route 69. Earlier in the week, the front said it had captured the hamlets of Banteay Chmar and Thma Pok, northeast and southeast, respectively, of Kandoul.

He said a large area of territory fell into the front’s hands when the Cambodian military abandoned Kandoul, including positions along the Thai border that had previously been used to shell Site 2, the big refugee camp where there are many front supporters. But this statement appeared to be somewhat premature; shells were still falling near Site 2 in the afternoon.

Western military analysts said they believe the front’s claims, although there was no independent verification that the three towns had fallen.

Dien Del said the front now has two goals: to move south along Route 69 and capture Svay Chek and west along Route 5 to take Phumi Nimitt, a sprawling military base about halfway to the border town of Poipet. Accomplishing these two goals would put pressure on Sisophon, the district capital.

Dien Del admitted that his forces had made an attempt on Phumi Nimitt this week and had been repulsed, but he said they expect to succeed within the next few days.