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Cease Fire – 1991

“On 27 November 1991, the Party of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK) delegation arrived in Phnom Penh. It was forced to flee, however, after demonstrations against the delegation became violent, and its members were attacked” (United Nations).¹ Despite the cease-fire agreement, opposing armies sought control over territory and rural populations before the deployment of UN peacekeepers.²

According to the Cambodian Defense Ministry, Pol Pot’s army strived to extend their control over areas by attacking the position of the Cambodian army. The ministry’s press release states that at dawn on November 11, 1991, “between 200 and 300 army men of Pol Pot’s Division 785 and Son Sann faction launched an offensive against three positions of the Cambodian army in the region of Kouk Rovieng, between 9 and 12 kilometres north-west of the district seat of Stoung, Kompong Thom Province.” This suggests that a breach of the ceasefire agreement occurred. From November 10 – 14, Pol Pot’s troops (between 70 to 80 infantrymen with artillery support) attacked three positions of a garrison at Puok district in Siem Reap-Oddar Meanchey Province. These three assaults were repelled by the local irregular forces.³

1. “Cambodia – UNAMIC Background — Introduction,” United Nations, accessed July 19, 2010, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unamicbackgr.html.
2. “Sihanouk Ends Exile, Returns to Cambodia; Troops, Rebels Clash Despite Cease-Fire,” Washington Post, November 14, 1991, A37.
3. “Defence Ministry alleges cease-fire violation,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, November 19, 1991; SPK News Agency, Phnom Penh, in English, November 1991, 0407 gmt 15.