CAMBODIA: HUN SEN'S FORCES CONSOLIDATE THEIR GRIP ON PHNOM PENH

(7 Jul 1997) Natural Sound
Cambodia's Second Prime Minister, Hun Sen, appears to be in complete control of the country's capital, following heavy fighting at the weekend.
The coup has driven his political rival, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, to France - but Royalist forces are reported to control large areas in the west of Cambodia.
Ranariddh says he'll organise resistance from abroad and with the threat of civil war now looming, the crisis poses a severe problem for the ASEAN regional grouping.
Member states were due to admit Cambodia to their ranks in 16 days time.
By Monday Hun Sen's forces were consolidating their grip on Phnom Penh.
In the Tuol Kork district of the capital abandoned tanks lined the roads, with the bodies of dead Funcinpec soldiers lay in pools of blood.
This bullet-riddled car is said to belong to General Nhek Bunchhay, the Army Chief of Staff who had been up at the Tang Kasang military base.
It's not known where he is now.
The weekend's violence has left at least 12 civilians dead with over fifty others injured.
There were no signs of Ranariddh's forces as Hun Sen's soldiers searched through the abandoned headquarters of Ranariddh's Funcinpec party.
Hun Sen appeared on state television to make a brief statement.
As dawn broke on Monday, people were out on the streets again, trying as best they could to carry on with their lives amidst the violence.
Funcinpec soldiers had used the monastery, only half a kilometre from the Tang Kasang military base, as a stronghold.
It received four or five rocket hits on Monday, killing eight people - seven soldiers and a trainee monk.
And at the Tang Kasang Base, C-P-P forces celebrate.
They wrested control of the base on Sunday after a two-day offensive.
These men sitting inside the base are prisoners - Funcinpec soldiers who surrendered to C-P-P forces.
Hun Sen's troops drive through the capital's streets in tanks, cheering their victory.
But those who want to leave Cambodia are stranded - Phnom Penh airport is closed and deserted, and airport equipment has been looted.
Residents of the city took advantage of the lull in the violence on Monday for further looting.
Order broke down as shops and factories were stripped of goods and carried through the streets.
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...

[@anhnamky6697]

CAMBODIA thank you the / UNHCR / so much

[@paeronm7457]

😢😢

[@seun9957]

😥Why the hex they show dead bodies on the streets?

[@ARMMYSIRI]

โหดชิบ

[@ala9287]

the dog

[@PRNSENG-gv4xu]

Æ