Senior military commanders claimed late Tuesday that RCAF-aligned troops have overrun the mountaintop base of troops loyal to Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok and have pinned the remaining rebels against the Thai border.
Preap Tann, director of psychological operations for the RCAF general staff, said new rebel defectors and government troops stormed the rebels’ backup base Tuesday in the so-called “200 mountains” area, some 3 km south of Thailand in the Dangrek Mountains.
“Right now, Ta Mok’s soldiers have run away from the 200 [mountains] zone and are situated right up against the Thai border,” he said.
The reports could not be independently confirmed.
Skirmishes Tuesday simmered in the area north of the area, Preap Tann said.
However, the fighting has become difficult for RCAF soldiers because they are unable to fire artillery shells without the risk of them landing in Thailand, Preap Tann said.
Meas Sophea, deputy chief of staff for the RCAF, claimed late Tuesday that about 200 soldiers dispatched by Funcinpec resistance general Nhiek Bun Chhay —based about 60 km west in the mountain hamlet of O’Smach—had withdrawn from the fighting.
The presence of Nhiek Bun Chhay’s fighters in the area during the past week had never been independently confirmed.
The RCAF commanders alleged that Ta Mok and Pol Pot—along with the rebels’ radio station, which is apparently mounted on an automobile—have fled into Thailand. They claimed Thai border authorities allowed Pol Pot and Ta Mok to cross freely.
“If we want to apprehend Ta Mok and Pol Pot, it depends on Thailand to cooperate with our government,” Preap Tann said. “It is very easy to capture them.”
Thai authorities have repeatedly denied the charges.
Meas Sophea and Defense
co-Minister Tea Banh flew with a small group of diplomats Tuesday to the defector village of O Bai Tap and Anlong Veng village, the rebels’ military command post for the last eight years until defectors forced the hard-liners out late last month.
They gave defectors RCAF uniforms, food and supplies.
The military has predicted the imminent end of the movement, according to diplomats quoted by Agence France-Presse.
“They said these guys had a tank and only one big gun and that they were running out of ammunition,” one diplomat told AFP. “They expect them all to defect in the coming days.”
The rebels’ clandestine radio station insisted Tuesday the Khmer Rouge controlled Anlong Veng village, and it called the alleged arrest of Khmer Rouge leaders by Thai authorities “psychological warfare.”
“We strongly deny this deceitful report,” the radio announcer stated. “Not one of the cadre leaders was caught. Not one of them confessed and reported themselves to the puppets of the Vietnamese communists.”
The radio announcer also refuted the RCAF’s capture of Anlong Veng village.
“We also deny the report that Anlong Veng [village] has been occupied by the puppets of the Vietnam communists,” the report stated, referring to the forces of the Phnom Penh government. “The Anlong Veng base is in the entire and complete control of the resistance forces.”
The RCAF on Monday took reporters to the village, where the government flag flew and there was no sign of the hard-liners.
Thai army officers speculated that reports of the rebel leaders’ capture were disinformation spread to convince diehard guerrillas their cause was hopeless and to defect, The Associated Press reported.
The New York Times reported Thursday that US intelligence sources believe Thai border authorities have arrested and released Khmer Rouge leaders Ta Mok and Pol Pot.
(Additional reporting by Kim Chan)
