Ba Chúc massacre
| Ba Chúc massacre | |
|---|---|
Ba Chúc Tomb | |
| Location | Ba Chúc, An Giang, Vietnam |
| Date | 18–30 April 1978[1] |
| Target | Vietnamese civilians |
Attack type | Massacre, war crime, ethnic cleansing |
| Deaths | 3,157 civilians[2] |
| Perpetrators | Khmer Rouge |
| Motive | Anti-Vietnamese sentiment, Khmer nationalism |
The Ba Chúc massacre occured between 18 to 30 April 1978 by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. Ba Chúc is a town in Vietnam, it borders Khmer Rouge (now Cambodia) under Pol Pot's dictatorship at the time. This, and many events before and afterward, led to the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
In the Vietnam War, North Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge had a great relationship. North Vietnam has sent military aid to the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Civil War. Later contributed to the Khmer Rouge's victory of the war, that also marked the beginning of the Cambodian genocide which killed up to 2 million Cambodian civilians. On 30 April 1975, North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, ending the war in Vietnam. But quickly, the Khmer Rouge turned against Vietnam and began harrassing Vietnam through border, eventually leading to the Ba Chúc massacre and many others too.
A total of 3,157 Vietnamese civilians killed in the massacre, including men, women, and children. After the event and many others, Vietnam sent troops across Cambodia–Vietnam border and entered Phnom Penh, the capital of Khmer Rouge, a year later.
References
- ↑ "MEANWHILE: When the Khmer Rouge came to kill in Vietnam". International Herald Tribune. 7 January 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ Huu Ngoc (8 May 2005). "The river flows quietly once again". Vietnam News Agency. Archived from the original on 9 May 2005.