VZCZCXRO1660
PP RUEHCHI
DE RUEHVN #0670/01 1990756
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 180756Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0139
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 6713
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 2713
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 2155
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 1818
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0445
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

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