Cambodian Rebels Gain, Official Admits

Defense Minister Tie Banh of Cambodia admits that government forces have been forced to abandon a number of areas in western Cambodia after attacks by a coalition of three guerrilla groups.

Tie Banh’s remarks, broadcast by Cambodian government radio over the weekend, came after the Khmer Rouge guerrilla group announced that it had attacked Battambang, the country’s No. 2 city, on Saturday and set it on fire.

Tie Banh did not refer directly to the rebel announcement, but Chum Bun Rong, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Phnom Penh, denied Monday that the city was on fire or even threatened.

“There were small night attacks in Battambang province,” he told United Press International, “but everything in the provincial capital is normal.”

In his radio remarks, Tie Banh said: “I would like to inform all the comrades that the enemies have been gradually advancing in their attacks against a number of our positions along the border. To be sincere, we have lost some positions.”

Tie Banh said that some areas are being abandoned as a strategic ploy so that more important areas can be defended. “The main thing for us now,” he said, “is to defend at all costs the townships, major communications networks and a number of passes.”

Acknowledging the impact on morale of the rebel claims about Battambang, Tie Banh said that while the rebels had carried out only limited military activities, “they have constantly boasted about them, (and) this is very dangerous.”

Asked by a reporter if the opposition could bring down the government, Tie Banh expressed confidence that the government will survive and added: “Whether the enemies can topple us or not depends on us. If we are willing to let them come easily, then they can do it.”

Tie Banh’s remarks were among the gloomiest since Vietnam withdrew the last of its troops from Cambodia in September. He acknowledged that the rebel offensive came at a time when the government was not fully prepared to replace the Vietnamese troops with Cambodian troops.

In the last three months, the Khmer Rouge has been pressing northeast from the gem-mining town of Pailin, which fell in October, toward Battambang, while the two non-Communist partners in the rebel coalition have moved gradually into northwestern Cambodia along an arc that follows Route 69 near the border. These troops are slowly closing in on another provincial capital, Sisophon.

Tie Banh noted that most of the abandoned areas are along the Thai border. He said rebel forces based across the border in Thailand have short lines of communications, while the government must move men and supplies over relatively long distances.

He said the Khmer Rouge cannot hold territory for long because of Cambodian revulsion at their methods. In five years of Khmer Rouge rule, from 1975 to 1979, more than 1 million Cambodians were said to have died of starvation and mistreatment.