Bombs Planted In Saigon

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30958, 14 January 1966, Page 9

Bombs Planted In Saigon

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) SAIGON, January 13. Viet Cong terrorists planted three bombs in Saigon and Da Nang last night and tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate a suburban hamlet near the capital, United Press International reported.

Two terrorists on a motorcycle hurled a bomb at an American billet in Da Nang and roared away with guards’ bullets whizzing past their heads. The bomb—the second in two days in the coastal city, which is heavily populated with United States troops—exploded harmlessly against a wall.

In Saigon, Communists planted a bomb against a wall of a United States motor pool near Tan Son Nhut airport, but it was discovered and disarmed before it exploded. Another grenade was exploded outside a Vietnamese home in Gia Dinh, a Saigon suburb, wounding three civilians. Authorities said an estimated platoon of guerrillas attempted to enter another suburb, Phuong Rach Ong, but national police guarding the area outflanked them and opened fire. The Australian First Battalion’s battle deaths in Viet-

nam have almost doubled since “Operation Crimp” began on Saturday. In the first four days of the operation in the Viet Cong stronghold seven Australians have been killed in action and 17 wounded. The battalion’s battle casualty figure for the seven months it has been in Vietnam up to the start of “Operation Crimp” was eight killed. The number of Australians killed in Vietnam is 25. Counting Methods A United States spokesman said yesterday that the combined forces so far had killed 107 Viet Cong, captured 80 and detained 684 suspects. Unlike the Americans, the Australian figure of Viet Cong killed is confirmed only by body count. The Australians claim 18 Viet Cong killed and more than 200 suspects detained. On American calculations the Australian figure would be about 50 Viet Cong dead.