The political situation continued to unravel throughout 1972: both opposition parties (In Tam's Democratic Party and Sirik Matak's Republican Party) refused to contest the elections to the National Assembly held in September, leading to a sweeping victory for Lon Non's Socio-Republican Party ("Sangkum Sathéaranak Râth"). There were a growing number of terrorist attacks in the capital, one of which was directed at Son Ngoc Thanh. Thanh – whose last political act was to ban Sirik Matak's newspaper – was then forced to resign, going back into South Vietnamese exile, and was replaced by the moderate leftist Hang Thun Hak. While the Khmer Republic's government was being weakened by infighting, North Vietnamese forces – who had previously carried out much of the fighting against FANK, as in Operation Chenla I and II – gradually and deliberately scaled back their presence within Cambodian borders, leaving mainly logistical and support staff. Their place was taken by native Cambodian communist forces of the CPNLAF, which had been greatly increased when Sihanouk gave his support to the insurgency, rural Cambodians remaining overwhelmingly pro-Sihanouk.