1.
GV Troops across field
0.05

2.
SV Tanks stop at roadside
0.10

3.
SV Along Highway Six (2 shots)
0.26

4.
SCU Officer talking on field telephone
0.27

5.
SV Troops firing 76 mm. gun
0.32

6.
SV Troops firing mortar
0.37

7.
LV Aircraft making bombing runs (4 shots)
1.12

8.
SV PAN troops carrying dead and wounded along road (5 shots)
1.54



Initials OS/137 DS/147



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Troops of the Khmer Republic continued to advance along Highway Six on Monday (23 August) after fierce fighting on Sunday (22 August). 15,000 men are involved in the operation, designed to clear the route from Phnom Penh northward to the besieged provincial capital of Kompong Thom. The troops met little resistance when the operation began last Friday (20 August), but on Monday the enemy tried to block the advancing Khmer forces. Air strikes were called in to help clear the resistance. 60 North Vietnamese soldier were reportedly killed, and the Khmer troops suffered several casualties in the fighting.

This is the third major operation launched by Khmer forces in the last two weeks, Kompong Thom has been under virtual siege since June of last year. It was relieved briefly last September by a river-borne force, but it is only accessible by water during the wet season. The present campaign is one of a series of Khmer operations during the monsoon season.

VISNEWS cameraman Yosep Lee is moving with the Khmer troops as they push towards Kompong Thom.

SYNOPSIS: Fifteen-thousand troops of the Khmer Republic are presently engaged in an operation to clear Highway Six northward from Phnom Penh to the besieged provincial capital of Kompong Thom. The campaign is the latest in a series of monsoon season operations aimed at disrupting enemy bases and supply routes Kompong Thom has been under virtual siege since June of last year.

The Khmer troops met little resistance when the operation began last Friday, be on Sunday the enemy tried to block their progress. Fierce fighting ensued, and the Khmer troops called in air strikes to he clear the highway. A Khmer Republic Command spokesman did not specify Kompong Thom as the objective of the operation, saying that the troops would push as far north as possible. Last September a similar operation along Highway Six was stopped by the enemy at Taing Kauk -- the jumping off point for this year's advance Sixty North Vietnamese soldiers were reported killed in the fighting on Sunday.

Khmer Republic troops losses have been light, but Sunday's fighting did result in several casualties. This is the third major operation launched by Khmer forces in the last two weeks. A khmer Command spokesman said that twenty-five thousand troops of the Khmer Republic are current conducting offensive operations. The Highway Six operation is named Tchenla Two after the name of an ancient khmer kingdom. Last year's Tchenla One operation, following the same path along Highway Six, was the first major khmer offensive operation of the war.