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direct fighting across the border is probably not imminent.
While talks continue, the Vietnamese are showing no
sign of wavering in their determination to eliminate remaining
elimi
Pol Pot resistance forces from Kampuchea. Vietnamese forces
have been able to clear significant areas of major resistance
concentrations, relying on their superior mobility and fire
power to locate and drive major Kampuchean forces into isolated
redoubts and in some instances, across the Border into Thailand.
Kampuchean resistance forces appear to have tried to avoid
contact in order to conserve their strength until the rainy
season necessitates a slow-down in Vietnamese offensive actions.
resistance forces have apparently been able to mount
limited counterattacks against isolated Vietnamese units and
to deny the Vietnamese unimpeded use of roads and highways
especially during the hours of darkness.
With the beginning of the rainy season, the Vietnamese
now face the task of maintaining control over newly-won areas
while
while at the same time attempting to extend administrative
control beyond the main towns and cities where the Heng Samrin
regime now has a presence. In this latter regard, the Vietnamese
face a formidable challenge, given historical Khmer-Vietnamese
antagonisms and the acute shortage, of experienced Kampuchean
administrative cadre, many of whom were killed by the Pol Pot
regime.
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