PHNOM PENH (AP) - Fighting between the Khmer Rouge and Phnom Penh soldiers
forced U.N. peacekeepers to close a voter registration site in central Cambodia,
a U.N. spokesman said on Dec. 11.
Khmer Rouge guerrillas stopped a U.N. electoral team from opening a second office
on Dec. 10 in the central Kompong Thom province, spokesman Eric Falt said. He has
no other details.
Falt said 41 other registration offices in the province were able to register voters
as usual on Dec. 10.
Falt also said that fighting in northwestern Cambodia on Dec. 9 damaged several buildings
used by the Malaysian infantry battalion and a U.N. vehicle in Bavel village, 45
kilometers (28 miles) west of Battambang.
Battambang, the provincial capital, is 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Phnom
Penh.
Khmer Rouge guerrillas shelled Bavel from dawn until noon and then again from 6 p.m.
to 11 p.m., Falt said. Phnom Penh soldiers fought back and three of them were killed
and seven wounded, he said, noting that several civilians also were wounded.
Sporadic shelling was reported in the village Dec. 10 but much of the population
had fled the area.
