Which group captured the USS Mayaguez?

The USS Mayaguez was captured by Cambodian Communists on May 12, 1975. This event occurred shortly after the fall of South Vietnam and within the chaotic aftermath of the Cambodian Civil War. The Cambodian Communists, which included the Khmer Rouge—though they had not yet fully consolidated power—they were involved in the actions leading to the seizure of the ship. The capture resulted in a significant military response from the United States, leading to the Mayaguez incident, where U.S. forces attempted a rescue operation to reclaim the ship and its crew.

While the Khmer Rouge was indeed the ruling party in Cambodia following the civil conflict, it is specifically the Cambodian Communists that, as a broader category, are credited with the seizure of the USS Mayaguez. The other options, such as the North Vietnamese Army and Laotian Rebels, were involved in different conflicts and circumstances during that era, but they were not directly connected to the capture of the USS Mayaguez.