[Saigon, March 3] United States’ warplanes to-day roamed over wide areas of Indo-China, including North Vietnam, in an intensified campaign to ease pressure on nearly 40,000 South Vietnamese ground troops sweeping across Laos and Cambodia.
South Vietnamese forces killed 268 North Vietnamese troops yesterday in the two drives, most of them by air and artillery strikes. In a delayed report, headquarters claimed another 200 communists were killed on Monday in a major battle along Highway 9 that intersects the Ho Chi Minh trail in Southern Laos. South Vietnamese losses were 22 killed and 89 wounded, a communique said. American B-52 heavy bombers, tactical fighter bombers and helicopters of all types had flown nearly 25,000 missions in support of the parallel South Vietnamese operations in Laos and Cambodia, U.S. military sources said. — AP and Reuters
