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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
The capital braced for Phoumi's attack. A last-minute
and
temporary switch of sides by Colonel Kouprasith Abhay,
commander of
the Vientiane military region headquartered at Camp
Chinaimo on the
eastern outskirts, was quickly neutralized by Kong Le, but
tension
heightened. The Pathet Lao delegation hurriedly left town.
More of
Souvanna Phouma's ministers disappeared and reappeared.
The
situation was becoming ungovernable. Souvanna Phouma
viewed battle
as inevitable, and, accompanied by his ministers Boun Om
(Boun
Oum's nephew), Tiao Sisoumang Sisaleumsak, and Inpeng
Suriyadhay,
flew to Phnom Penh on December 9, having delegated his
powers to
the military. The following morning Quinim Pholsena, the
minister
of information whom Souvanna Phouma had left behind, flew
to Hanoi
accompanied by Phoumi Vongvichit, the chief Pathet Lao
negotiator,
and Lieutenant Deuane Sunnalath, Kong Le's deputy, on a
mission to
seek Soviet and North Vietnamese military aid, which began
arriving
the following day on Soviet aircraft.
Phoumi began his attack on December 13. From his
command post
near the airport, Kong Le had positioned his men at key
points on
the outskirts, intending merely to fight a delaying action
to allow
the safe evacuation to the north of his men and their
equipment.
The regional command post of the Pathet Lao, situated at
Na Khang,
sixty kilometers north of the capital, disposed of three
guerrilla
groups but did not take part in the battle of Vientiane. A
massive
display of firepower by Phoumi's troops resulted in the
deaths of
400 to 500 civilians in the town, mostly Vietnamese
residents, and
the wounding of another 1,000 to 1,500 civilians. Kong
Le's troops
only lost seventeen killed. Phoumi's armor rolled into
town on
December 16.
Kong Le retreated slowly northward toward
Louangphrabang, while
Soviet aircraft parachuted badly needed supplies--rice,
salt,
sugar, blankets, light arms, ammunition, and radios. With
new
recruits, his ranks had swelled from 800 to 1,200 men. On
December
23, at Phôn Hông, about sixty kilometers north of the
capital, Kong
Le was visited by Kaysone, who had come to settle the
details of
distribution of Soviet aid and coordination of Neutralist
and
Pathet Lao troops in future operations. On January 1, Kong
Le's
troops took control of the Plain of Jars and Khang Khay
after
skirmishing with some of the 9,000 Phoumist troops and an
equal
number of Hmong guerrillas in the vicinity and recovered
large
quantities of supplies. The following day, the Neutralists
occupied
Xiangkhoang, and United States advisers and Phoumist
troops were
evacuated from the Muang Phônsavan airfield.
Quinim and Tiao Sisaleumsak established themselves at
Khang
Khay and urged Souvanna Phouma, who was in Cambodia, to
join them.
Souvanna Phouma said that he was still legally prime
minister but
would resign at once if Phoumi's government were validated
in
accordance with the constitution. Souvanna Phouma argued
that the
National Assembly's vote of no confidence on December 11
was not
valid because it had taken place in neither the royal
capital nor
the administrative capital. He regarded the king's
dealings with
the Revolutionary Committee as beyond the king's
authority. When
the National Assembly met in Vientiane and voted
confidence in the
Boun Oum government on January 4, Souvanna Phouma ignored
the
action.
Data as of July 1994
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