 The fight cost both sides dearly. The true extent of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese casualties is largely unknown, but due to their exposure to American firepower, the Communist forces undoubtedly suffered heavy losses. Nonetheless, the successful capture of Loc Ninh exceeded Communist expectations, as they had thought that the South Vietnamese would hold out longer. Lộc Ninh became the seat of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, the capital of Communist-occupied territories in South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese, in their efforts to hold the district, lost more than three thousand soldiers killed or captured; only about fifty soldiers actually reached An Lộc. The Viet Cong also captured all seven American advisers and an embedded French journalist, Yves-Michel Dumond, in Lộc Ninh; they were taken to a prison camp in Kratié Province, Cambodia. Dumond was released on 14 July 1972. On 12 February 1973, the Americans were released in accordance with the Paris Peace Accord.
