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{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Shelling of Cai Lay schoolyard
| partof = [[Vietnam War]]
| image =
| caption =
| location = [[Cai Lậy District]], [[Định Tường province]], Vietnam
| coordinates =
| target =
| date = 30 August 1973
| time =
| timezone =
| type = [[Bombing]]
| weapon = [[Artillery Bombardment]]
| fatalities = 32
| injuries = 55
| perps = [[Viet Cong]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Vietnam War massacres}}
The shelling was an attack on a [[Cai Lậy District]] government-controlled schoolyard in [[SouthCai Lậy (town)|Cai VietnamLậy town]]<nowiki/>, government[[Định school-yardTường province]], [[South Vietnam]] on 930 MarchAugust 1973,<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news |date=30 August 1973 |title=New Vietcong Drive To Cut Saigon Link With Delta Reported |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/31/archives/new-vietcong-drive-to-cut-saigon-link-with-delta-reported.html|title=New Vietcong Drive To Cat Saigon Link With Delta Reported|access-date=2018-06-19|language=en23 June 2020}}</ref> by attacking [[Viet Cong]] (VC) troopsforces.<ref>[https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/b/0/a/b0a6fc6cf46ffd6b87b086117bef3a908c57067b97442c1ab6a64e8dabfb402a/S-0901-0002-03-00001.pdf United Nations archive]</ref> The driveshelling nowwas is centeringcentered on the districts of CaiCái BeBè and Cai LayLậy, areas of traditional VietcongVC control in Dinh[[Định TuongTường Province]] in the northern delta.
The US Government called the bombardment part of "the terrorist campaign of the [[Democratic Republic of Viet Nam]]." According to the U.S., 32 students were killed and 55 others injured.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1974-08-04 |title=Tập san Bộ Ngoại giao Hoa Kỳ |url=https://www.archive.org/details/departmentofstatb7074unit}}</ref> The [[Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam]] and South Vietnam each blamed the other for the attack.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Message Text |url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=95660&dt=2474&dl=1345 |website=AAD Archives}}</ref>
The shelling came about during a skirmish between attacking VC forces and militias defending the district.
The South Vietnamese command reported that three Government soldiers were killed and twenty soldiers and civilians were wounded in the attack, with 120 mortar and artillery rounds being fired. In a related incident, VC troops shelled a militia post two miles away from Cai Lay, following this up with a ground attack during which four militiamen were killed and eleven wounded. It is not known whether the VC suffered casualties.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/31/archives/new-vietcong-drive-to-cut-saigon-link-with-delta-reported.html New Vietcong Drive To Cat Saigon Link With Delta Reported.] New York Times. 1973-08-31.</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Cai Lay schoolyard, Shelling of}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:1973 in South Vietnam]]
[[Category:Collective punishment]]
[[Category:1973Mass murder in Vietnam1973]]
[[Category:Massacres in the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:War crimes in Vietnam]]
[[Category:August 1973 events]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Vietnam]]
[[Category:History of Tiền Giang province]]
[[Category:School massacres in Asia]]
[[Category:Vietnam War crimes by the Viet Cong]]
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