CAMBODIA: PHNOM PENH: FIGHTING CONTINUES TO RAGE

(6 Jul 1997) Natural Sound
Fighting raged in the Cambodian capital and spread to outlying provinces on Sunday on the second day of an apparent coup attempt.
Second Premier Hun Sen went on radio to label his opponent, First Premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh, a "traitor" who would have to go but denied he was staging a coup.
At least nine people have been killed since Saturday, including a Japanese engineer. Another 50 people have been seriously wounded.
Rocket and mortar rounds mixed with bursts of machine-gun fire on Sunday outside the Tang Kasang military base, five kilometres (three miles) west of Phnom Penh.
The base is surrounded by troops loyal to co-Prime Minister Hun Sen.
But First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh's top commander, General Nhek Bunchhay, continued to held out inside.
Ranariddh is reported to have declared himself Cambodia's sole leader - though his whereabouts remain unknown.
In the capital itself, troops have taken up positions, ready to attack as tanks swarmed the streets to the sound of gunfire.
It was the latest confrontation between forces loyal to the two feuding premiers, with Hun Sen pressing his advantage in numbers and arms to disarm Ranariddh's troops.
Hun Sen went on national radio Sunday evening to declare his rival was a traitor who had to go.
He said he could no longer govern with Ranariddh, but denied he was launching a civil war.
Ranariddh has denounced Hun Sen's power grab and urged Cambodian armed forces to resist the take-over.
Over the past weeks, the rivalry between the two premiers has become increasingly violent.
Hundreds of civilians and foreigners have fled Phnom Penh, trying to find safety from the fighting.
But for many it was too late - these parents carried their injured children through the streets.
Early on Sunday morning, a giant plume of black smoke was seen rising over the north- western part of the city.
A fuel storage dump was believed to have been hit, but that could not be immediately confirmed.
Both premiers formed a shaky coalition government in 1993 after spending years as enemies on Cambodia's battlefields.
Now that enmity appears to have been resurrected.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

[@ricdavid7476]

thank you henry kissinger how do you live with yourself?

[@seun5310]

RPGs are popular in Cambodian war. But at this day and age they have better anti tank missiles. War sucks. Nothing but killing and destruction.

[@sambath5512]

This is locate in the capital Phnom Penh

[@danbismyusername]

check out 1:33 the dead woman in the wagon lifts her head up and looks at the camera and then plays dead again

[@milkymoogod596]

Nvm

[@luisturcios2338]

Shes wounded not dead

[@christinechhou5859]

Mr_D_Butcher that call smart

[@high3747]

She is wounded

[@ala9287]

destructive

[@imgoodandimbad5693]

last war

[@mr.k.Gaming90462]

im cambodian im come over there to visit next year i come there becuase i want to see my family members

[@KonKhmer-eu7kf]

អ្នកនយោបាយឈ្លោះគ្នានាក់រងទុក្ខគឺរាស្រ្ត😭

[@babughodake3057]

Very bad, so sad

[@seun9957]

🙄😒😒Cambodian T-55 tank. They bought them from Russia.

[@konmissilers5182]

ពីឆ្នាំណានឹង

[@BNRB26DETT]

1997 coup