To Denials, Cambodia Forces Say Royalists Are on the Run

Cambodian government forces said Tuesday that they have seized the last town held by loyalists of ousted First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, but the prince and his followers disputed the report.

Government officials said the town of O’Smach fell Tuesday afternoon and that royalists were retreating from the area.

A senior military official said the government forces, under the control of coup leader Hun Sen, seized seven royalist tanks. There was no word on prisoners or casualties.

Royalist soldiers at the Thai border near O’Smach told reporters they still held the town and 5,000 soldiers would soon reinforce them.

O’Smach was the last major stronghold of Ranariddh’s ragged army, which has been battling the government forces since Hun Sen overthrew the prince July 5-6.

Hours before the reported fall of O’Smach, more than 20,000 civilians streamed into Thailand near the town to escape the fighting.

Thai authorities said they opened gates at a checkpoint and allowed the civilians to walk across the border late Monday after Cambodian government troops captured a strategic hill three miles from O’Smach.

About 2,000 civilians remain in O’Smach, where Ranariddh’s forces had dug in against Hun Sen’s troops with assistance from the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement.