A Cambodian wife embraces the body of her husband, who was killed in 1975 in Cambodia during the Battle of Phnom Penh. Her Cambodian husband was killed by the leftist extremist Khmer Rouge.

   A Cambodian wife embraces the body of her husband who was killed in 1975 during the Battle of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. A young widow grieves in anguish as she holds the body of her husband killed in battle (@ Don McCullin). Her Cambodian husband was killed by the leftist extremist Khmer Rouge.

　The Cambodian Civil War ended with the fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh, the capital of the Khmer Republic (now Cambodia). in early April 1975, Phnom Penh, the last remaining stronghold of the Khmer Republic, was surrounded by the Khmer Rouge. and was completely dependent on aerial resupply from Pochentong Airport. With the Khmer Rouge's overthrow imminent, the U.S. government evacuated U.S. citizens and allied Cambodians on April 12, 1975; by April 17, the last line of defense around Phnom Penh had been overrun, the Khmer Rouge had taken Phnom Penh, and the government of the Khmer Republic collapsed.

　Captured Khmer Republican troops were taken to the Olympic Stadium, where they were executed. Senior government and military officials were forced to write confessions before their execution. The Khmer Rouge ordered Phnom Penh residents to leave the city forcibly, and Phnom Penh was emptied and transferred to Thailand, except for expatriates who took refuge in the French embassy until April 30. Foreigners were forced into the French Embassy compound. After about two weeks the foreigners were trucked to the Thai border and expelled. With the foreigners gone, Cambodia lost its only outside witness to the politics of terror initiated by the Khmer Rouge in Democratic Kampuchea.

 　The Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh and forced the forced displacement of some 2 million Phnom Penh residents to rural areas in the provinces. They were held at gunpoint in their homes and schools and fired upon if they did not move immediately. Even in hospitals, patients were forced onto the streets. Families were torn apart and children lost their parents in the chaos. Roads leading from the capital Phnom Penh were jammed, and thousands of people died. Friends and relatives were forced to emigrate quickly, leaving their bodies behind and carrying what little belongings they had.