| Phnom Voar | |
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| Elevation | 284 m (932 ft) |
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Phnom Voar
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| Location | Cambodia |
Phnom Voar (Vine Mountain) (Khmer: ភ្នុំវល្លី) is a small range of mountains in southern Cambodia. 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, when it was a base for communist insurgent forces and the target of significant bombing by B-52s and other air strikes.[1]
The main north south railway line between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville runs along the base of the mountain. National road 33 between Kampong Trach 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.
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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 regime.[2]
After the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Phnom Voar became one of the southern rebel bases for the remaining Democratic Kampuchea forces. In June 1994, Phnom Voar leapt to international fame as the site of the kidnapping of three westerners, Australian David Wilson, 29, Briton Mark Slater, 28, and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet, 27 from a train by Khmer Rouge forces led by Commander Chouk Rin. In September of the same year, the westerners were executed and their bodies buried at the base of the mountain.[3]
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 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.[4]