June 9 1970 was the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of guerrilla war in Dhofar, against the rule of the Sultan of Muscat. A recent article in the Economist (June 6) confirmed that holding defensive positions along the coastal strip." It went on to say "The Sultan's answer has been to increase his own defense forces. He will make a determined effort to crush the rebellion before the British withdrawal from the Gulf next year. It is unlikely to be successful." The same article also said that UK "involvement is doing untold harm to British prestige and influence elsewhere in the peninsula."
There have been other repois recently that the Sultan, on the advice of his British Defense Secretary Colonel Hugh Oldman, plans to double the number of troops, and a communique from liberation forces mentions attacks that point to a desperate counter-offensive by Sultan.
Since the capture of Rakhyut town in western Dhofar (August 1969) and of Sadh in eastern Dhofar (March 1970) the fighting has concentrated on the road linking the capital Salala to the desert in the north. The sultan is still able to control the desert, since there is no cover or mountainous terrain to protect the guerrillas from air attack. This road is called "the Red Line, "by the Popular Front.
Both the Shah of Iran and the Sheikh of Bahrein have called for the deposition of the Sultan, and the British are pressing for him to allow his son Qabus, educated at Sandhurst, to take the throne. Times reported on June 18 that the Sultan had already resigned and was about to go into exile. Heath greeting the most reactionary ruler in the world.
suppress oposition in the Gulf which they are to leave in 1971. But the definitive blocking of the the capital, ocking odi the Red Line for the road.
Melvin Laird, US Defense de s e TH HAJLITO SALA Secretary, recently announced that US ships would soon be moved from Indo-China to the Gulf area, and the Conservatives are likely to step up aid to the Muscat Army. Such a sharpening of the conflict will increase the revolutionary TO MUSCAT can take up to a month for news to get from one end of the front to the other.
On April 29, 1970, at 6 o'clock in the morning the British imperialist enemy launched an attack, in a vain attempt to break the encirclement oj his forces along the Red Line at al Hast, which the People's Army of the PFLOAG has sustained for about two months. The attack came from the north, from Hajlit camp in the desert area, and it consisted of three mobile detachments, which were supported by a group of British RAF planes, long range heavy artillery, infantry and armoured cars. After it had advanced about five kilometres to the middle of the Hamir pass, our heroic forces struck back, and engaged with it in a number of battles which lasted 35 hours. Then the enemy forces retreated, with the following losses: 1) 100 mercenaries killed or wounded, including four British officers. 2) Bedford military vehicles destroyed. 3) One battery of field artillery destroyed. 4) One Hawker Hunter plane hit.
Our forces returned safely to base, but the enemy's savage attacks killed many of the livestock belonging to our defenseless compatriots.
On May 4 1970 one of our regular units penetrated an enemy post on the Red Line and opened fire with light and medium weapons. The fight lasted for 14 minutes, and 5 of the enemy's troops were killed or wounded On the same day another fighting unit of the People's Army ambushed a convoy of enemy vehicles moving along the Red Line. When the vehicles came near to the ambush our forces suddenly attacked with a torrent of rapid auto matic fire. The clash lasted for ten minutes, and the enemy lost one of his trucks, in which everyone was killed or wounded. Our own forces returned to base safely. come live the Revolution of Jude 9. carried out by command PFLOAG!
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