50 years ago: Saigon Reds kill Cambodian soldiers

Deccan Chronicle (India)

Phnom Penh, Sept. 6: Eight Cambodian soldiers were killed last week in a clash between Cambodian troops and Vietnamese Communist guerrillas in the province of Svayrieng on the border to South Vietnam, the Cambodian Army announced today. An official communique said that “an armed foreign band” which had intruded into Cambodian territory, was driven back into South Vietnam on September 1, after suffering heavy losses. The communique indicated that the incident occurred when Cambodian Army units, local militia and police carried out a large-scale control operation along the border. During this operation the Cambodians ran into “an armed foreign band” of about one hundred in an area some two kilometres long an stretching about one km into Cambodian territory. The communique said an officer, identified as Captain Le Than Tung, Commander of the first Vietminh independent company, tried to negotiate with the Cambodian troops, but was arrested.