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

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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