Khmer government troops pushed forward to the outskirts of the former royal capital of Oudong on Monday (25 March) after heavy fighting in which an army spokesman said 175 insurgents had been killed. Government ??? were said to be two killed and 27 wounded.

More government troops were rushed to the zone last week in an attempt to retake the city which was over-run on March 18th by an insurgent force estimated at 2,000 many of them believed to be women soldiers.

Armoured personnel carriers and air strikers were also used by the government troops in their attempt to win back the city and more supplies were shipped in by the Tonle Sap river.

The government troops are pressing a two-pronged assault on Gudong from the east and the north. The city, a provincial capital is twenty-four miles north of the capital, Phnom Penh, but it has little strategic significance. Its importance lies in its history, which has a psychological significance.