The government announced Saturday that it captured the Khmer Rouge headquarters of Pailin, dealing a significant blow to the guerrilla group.
Pailin, near the border with Thailand 220 miles northeast of Phnom Penh, is in a region where the Khmer Rouge have taken gems and logs to support their war."The government controls 100 percent of Pailin," Maj. Gen. Por Vannak told The Associated Press on the second day of an attack on the city.
A senior Khmer Rouge official in Phnom Penh denied the report and insisted that the guerrilla group remained in control. He said the fighting was four miles from the headquarters, and no territory was lost.
Government soldiers would not let reporters near the battlefield Saturday.
If true, the capture of Pailin would be the biggest blow yet to the Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia for three bloody years in the 1970s.
Pailin is the guerrillas' last stronghold.