Phnom Voar () is a small range of mountains in southern
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. The mountain range is located in
Damnak Chang'eaur District of
Kep Province, near the border with
Kampot Province. This relatively isolated range became notorious as a battleground during the
Cambodian Civil War
The Cambodian Civil War (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vietnam and China) against the government of the Ki ...
, when it was a base for communist insurgent forces and the target of significant bombing by
B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Ai ...
s and other air strikes.
The main north south railway line between
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...
and
Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville (, ), also known as Kampong Saom (, ) or Preah Sihanouk (, ), is a coastal city in Cambodia and the capital of Preah Sihanouk Province, at the tip of an elevated peninsula in the country's south-west on the Gulf of Thailand. T ...
runs along the base of the mountain. National road 33 between
Kampong Trach
Kampong Trach District () is one of 8 districts in Kampot Province and it is located at the eastern part bordering Vietnam to the east, Banteay Meas District to the north, Kep Province to the west and the Gulf of Thailand to the south.
Anlong Pri ...
and
Kampot also runs nearby. However, there are few roads or paths within the mountains and only two permanent communities: Chamkar Bei and Rones villages.
History
Between 1975 and 1979, the area around Phnom Voar was the site of several killing fields and two prisons run by the
Santebal – the secret police of the
Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of the Cambodian state from 1976 to 1979, under the government of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phno ...
regime.
After the fall of the
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...
in 1979, Phnom Voar became one of the southern rebel bases for the remaining Democratic Kampuchea forces and on July 26, 1994, Phnom Voar rose to international attention as the site of a Khmer Rouge attack on a Cambodian train that resulted in the deaths of at least 8 people (three government soldiers, at least four Khmer Rouge and one civilian passenger) and led to the mass-kidnapping of more than 100 hostages (including at least two Cambodians, three Vietnamese, and three westerners, all of whom were later killed).
The exact circumstances of the deaths of the hostages remains unclear with some reports indicating that they died perhaps as early as September, 1994 or possibly after 15 October 1994. Regardless, their bodies were found on November 2, 1994.
Chhouk Rin, a Khmer Rouge officer at the time, was later convicted of the murders of the three western hostages and as of April, 2013 was serving out a life sentence in
Prey Sar Prison.
After the war
Since 1994, and the capture or surrender of the last rebel forces in the mountains, Phnom Voar has attracted significant attention from international NGOs, particularly from
Unesco
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
in 1998. These agencies have been attempting to improve health, education and livelihoods for villagers who had missed the rapid development and reconstruction of the rest of the country due to years of isolation and war.
References
External links
1994 Photo montage of backpackers taken hostage by the Khmer Rouge during a train ambush*
ttp://wopared.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fadt_ctte/completed_inquiries/1996-99/consular/report/c07.htm#Heading8 The Case of David Wilson: Summary of Events from the Senate enquiry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voar, Phnom
Geography of Kep province
Mountains of Cambodia