The death watch in Cambodia has begun. With signs of its vitality fast fading, the Phnom-Penh regime last week resembled a terminal patient approaching the end. As many as 12,000 Khmer insurgent troops had massed within a 20-mile radius of the capital. Some crept so close that they were within two-mile mortar range, from where they shelled the city, killing 20 civilians and wounding 75. TIME Correspondent Barry Hillenbrand was in Phnom-Penh to measure the life expectancy of the regime. His report:
The situation in Cambodia is so grave that it is hard to find an optimistic military assessment around Phnom-Penh....