GOL PURSUES REMAINING INSURGENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000670 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, PRM, INR E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREF PINS PREL LA SUBJECT: GOL PURSUES REMAINING INSURGENTS REF: A. VIENTIANE 561 ¶B. VIENTIANE 519 Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In spite of the onset of the rainy season, Lao military forces are pressing remaining insurgent pockets, especially in Bolikhamsai province. Those groups left in the forest are dispersed in the remotest areas, suffering from possible starvation as LPA forces cut them off from food sources. Details continue to emerge about the April 6 massacre in northern Vientiane province: a Bangkok-based journalist visited the site in June and uncovered evidence of a major firefight. The security forces may also be taking action against suspected supporters of the resistance, with two more possible extra-judicial killings in June in the former Saisomboun Special Zone area. With much of the action taking place out of sight and mind of the outside world, the last of the Hmong resistance is ending its long battle with a whimper. End summary. Continued fighting in Bolikhamsai -------------- ¶2. (C) Several Hmong sources have told us that Lao People's Army (LPA) forces had kept up their attacks against Hmong insurgent groups in Bolikhamsai province and the area around Phou Bia in the former Saisomboun Special Zone. One resistance leader in the area, Vang Chia, claimed that there were now only about 500 insurgents, mostly women and children, in the Bhou Bia and northern Bolikhamsai province areas, compared to several thousand this time last year. A Hmong source in Thailand in frequent contact with the insurgents from these areas relates that GoL forces had pressed their attacks against the Hmong well into the rainy season. Although LPA troops were less actively patrolling the jungles looking for insurgents, they were using mortar and artillery fire from their scattered bases to harass suspected insurgent hideouts, creating a steady dribble of casualties. LPA forces have also reportedly stepped up efforts to cut the insurgents off from their food sources. Those groups still in the forest appear to have little or no food, and young children are reportedly suffering and even dying from malnutrition. ¶3. (C) As a result of these actions, many Hmong living in the forest, especially women and children, have fled the region or surrendered to Lao authorities. Several sources relayed a report that a group of 46 Hmong women and children attempted to surrender to authorities in southern Xieng Khouang province on July 6. The group had appealed to local officials to allow them to surrender peacefully and to seek resettlement, although according to one report authorities later took the group away to an unknown location. The current whereabouts of the group or their condition is not known. Vietnamese soldiers in Laos? -------------- ¶4. (C) Several sources have reported that as many as 3,000 Vietnamese forces were supporting LPA troops in their attacks on the Hmong. Verifying these claims is nearly impossible, given the remote areas where counter-insurgency operations are taking place. However, we have not heard accounts from any province-based contacts indicating the presence of Vietnamese forces, nor do we believe it likely Vietnamese troops are here in any significant numbers. There is credible evidence, however, that Vietnamese troops may have been involved in supporting LPA attacks along the Lao-Vietnamese border in Bolikhamsai province, possibly because Hmong forces in that area frequently cross between the two countries to avoid pursuit. Journalist visits April 6 massacre site -------------- ¶5. (C) Related to LPA actions against the insurgency, news about the April 6 massacre in northern Vientiane province in which 26 Hmong were killed continues to filter out. A Bangkok-based journalist visited the site of the massacre in June. This journalist, who briefed us on his trip, said he was escorted into the jungle by Hmong insurgents. It took the party three days of hard walking to reach the massacre site, passing through extremely remote parts of eastern Vientiane province. At the location, the journalist found abundant evidence of the firefight that produced the massacre, including shot-up trees and spent ammunition. He had documented his trip and planned to write an article about VIENTIANE 00000670 002 OF 002 the adventure shortly. A Hmong source also passed on to us photos of dead Hmong who were allegedly victims of the April 6 incident. The photos show the victims as they were prepared for burial, but there is nothing to connect them directly to the massacre. Extrajudicial killings? -------------- ¶6. (C) An American with close contacts in Laos' Hmong community related that two Hmong civilians, both in the Muang Cha area of the former Saisomboun Special Zone, had been killed by Lao security forces over the past month. These murders were similar to the killing in early June of another Hmong man, Xiong Pao Xiong, in Muang Cha with alleged links to the insurgency (ref A). In the first of the new cases, on June 18 LPA killed a middle-aged Hmong man, Vang Leng Her, in Tam Lu village near Muang Cha. On the same day Lao soldiers shot dead an elderly Hmong man, Nhia Tou Lor, in Tong Khoun village outside Muang Cha. The source reported that Nhia Tou Lor's killing was allegedly related to an ongoing police investigation of his nephew who was associated with the insurgency. There are no known links of either of these June 18 cases to the June 8 killing of Xiong Pao Xiong, also outside Muang Cha. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) These disparate incidents point to a continued push by the GoL to end the insurgency as quickly as possible. There is nothing to prevent them from accomplishing this -- the international community has a paucity of information on GoL actions against the Hmong and therefore little to protest, and the Hmong insurgents are decimated and nearly defenseless. Their options are surrender or flight, and it appears that more and more are abandoning the jungle for one or the other choice. The tragedy is that the Lao government has so effectively been able to cut off avenues of inquiry regarding its activities that its efforts to eliminate the insurgents have largely escaped the world's attention. End comment. HASLACH