CONTINUED USE OF CHEMICAL WARFARE WEAPONS AGAINST HMONG RESISTANCE AND TRIBAL ELEMENTS IN THE LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06156952
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2017
• Case Number: F-2012-01432
• Publication Date: January 3, 1980

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CORRECTED COPY
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TOR: 031002Z JAN 80
TN 1622575A
SEC ET030829Z JAN 80 INTEL
CITE
TO: DIRECTOR
FILED: 030829Z
PARA 4 SERVICED. (IN 3622980). AT THE END OF PARA 2
nELETED "SOVET MADE MIG-23 OR 25.)
REPORT CLASS SECRET/WNINTEL--NOFORN
COUNTRY LAOS
SUBJECT CONTINUED USE OF CHEMICAL WARFARE WEAPONS AGAINST HMONG
RESISTANCE AND TRIBAL LAO PEOPLE'S
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
SOURCE
SE/ET
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JCLAW I
COMMENT: A NUMBER OF REPORTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES,
HAVE
*NOTED THAT THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES IN THE LAO PEOPLE'S
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (LPDR) HAVE FOR SOME TIME BEEN USING CHEMICAL
WARFARE (CW) WEAPONS AGAINST THE HMONG RESISTANCE AND TRIBAL ELEMENTS.
THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNTS FROM HMONG REFUGEES SHOWS THAT DESPITE
DISCLOSURES IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA, THE LPDR AND
SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM (SRV) FORCES HAVE CONTINUED TO USE CW
WEAPONS IN THE LPDR.)
2. IN MID-LATE
AUGUST 1979, HMONG REFUGEE THEN
A RESIDENT OF BAN NA LUANG (TF6891),
LPDR AND OBSERVED A
"JET AIRPLANE" FLY OVER MUANG CHA, MAKE ONE CIRCLE, AND THEN DESCEND
TO AN ALTITUDE OF AROUND 1,000 TO 1,500 FEET. THE PLANE APPROACH-
ED MUANG CHA FROM THE WEST FLYING OVER BAN SON (TF5993), BAN NA XOU
(TF5794), AND BAN NAM MOH (TF8187) BEFORE IT BEGAN DISPENSING A �
"LIGHT-YELLOW SMOKE." THE SPRAY WAS DROPPED OVER MUANG CHA, MUANG
OM (UF1395), AND OTHER PLACES SITUATED IN THE FOOTHILL AREA OF PHOU
BIA (UF0699). AFTER COMPLETING ITS RUN, THE AIRCRAFT FLEW EAST FROM
MUANG CHA. COMMENT: DESCRIBED THE JET AIRPLANE AS
HAVING NO PROPELLER AND MAKING A SOUND MUCH DIFFERENT THAN THAT OF A
U.S. MANUFACTURED PHANTOM JET WHICH HE WAS FAMILIAR WITH. HE SAID HE
HAD NEVER SEEN THAT PARTICULAR TYPE OF JET AIRCRAFT BEFORE AND FROM
CONVERSATIONS WITH HIS FRIENDS HE BELIEVED THE AIRPLANE WAS
"SOVIET MADE.
3. SAID THE EFFECTS OF THE CW AGENT ON
THE INHABITANTS IN THE AREA BEGAN TO SHOW WITHIN AN HOUR AFTER CON-
TAMINATION. OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS 74 PERSONS LIVING IN THE
VILLAGES OF BAN NONG SAVANG (NCA), BAN KHI XANG (NCA), AND BAN NAM
CHA (TF9990) DIED FROM EXPOSURE TO THE CHEMICAL, AS WELL AS LARGE
NUMBERS OF LIVESTOCK. NOTED THAT THE EFFECT OF THE CW AGENT
ON VEGETATION BECAME NOTICEABLE ABOUT ONE WEEK AFTER THE INCIDENT
WHEN THE THATCH GRASS AND SOME OTHER VARIETIES OF LONG LEAF GRASSES
IN ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN LOCATIONS, EACH LOCATION ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT
100 SQUARE METERS, BEGAN TO WITHER AND DIE. HE SAID THE GRASSES
APPEARED DRY AND TO HAVE BEEN SCORCHED BY SCALDING HOT WATER.
WAS VISITING MUANG CHA (TF9991)
4. WHO EXPERIENCED THE EFFECT CW AGENT, DESCRIBED
THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS FROM HIS EXPOSURE. COMMENT:
MAY NOT HAVE RECEIVED A LETHAL DOSE OF THE CHEMICAL. HE SAID
THAT FOLLOWING THE INITIAL SYMPTOMS OF THE CW POISONING, ABOUT TWO
DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT, HE BEGAN IMMEDIATELY TO TREAT HIMSELF BY
TAKING DILUTED RAW OPIUM TWO TO THREE TIMES A DAY UNTIL HE BEGAN
TO RECOVER.) SAID HIS EYES BECAME INFLAMED (ON THE ORDER OF
CONJUNCTIVITIS), SUFFERED FROM A SEVERE HEADACHE, HIGH FEVER, SORE
THROAT AND DIFFICULTY IN BREATHING. HE ALSO EXPERIENCED EXTREME
CHEST PAINS AND AN INCREASE IN BODY TEMPERATURE FROM THE WAIST UP
WHILE BELOW THE WAIST HE FELT COLDER. HIS LIPS BECAME DRY AND SPLIT
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OPEN. HE HAD NO TEARDROPS OR SALIVA; HOWEVER, HE WAS CONTINUALLY
THIRSTY EVEN AFTER DRINKING SUFFICIENT LIQUID ALSO
EXPERIENCED VOMITING AND DIARRHEA. COMMENT: BELIEVED
THAT THOSE HMONG PEOPLE WHO EVENTUALLY DIED FROM THE CW AGENT DID SO
AS A RESULT OF AN INABILITY TO CONTROL VOMITING AND DIARRHEA. HE
SAID THAT THOSE WHO SUFFERED ACUTE VOMITING AND BOWEL MOVEMENT WERE
THE ONES WHO LATER DIED. THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT SALINE SOLUTION TO
TREAT THE ILL AND TO PREVENT DEHYDRATION.) SAID HE ALSO
EXPERIENCED THE FEELING OF BEING "INTOXICATED" AND DESCRIBED THIS
SENSATION AS THAT FELT AFTER TAKING AN OVERDOSE OF THE ANTI-MALARIA
DRUG CHLOROQUINE, THAT IS HE SUFFERED FROM A STATE OF CONFUSION,
DISORIENTATION, AND AN IMPAIRED EQUALIBRIUM.
5. ANOTHER HMONG REFUGEE SAID THAT ON 12 JULY HE WAS
LIVING AT BAN PHA HOUAI NOI (TF9893), XIENG KHOUANG PROVINCE, WHEN HE
WITNESSED A SOVIET JET AIRCRAFT FLY FROM THE DIRECTION OF BAN SON AND
MUANG CHA, MAKE A CIRCLE, AND THEN SPRAY A CW AGENT OVER THE VILLAGES
OF BAN PHA HOUAI NOI, BAN THONG HAK (TF9689), BAN THONG KHEUN
(TF9288), MUANG CHE, MUANG OM, THAN LO (UF0492), AND PHA PHAI
(UG1619). COMMENT: THESE VILLAGES ARE ALL LOCATED ALONG A
ROADWAY AND MAY HAVE BEEN THE REASON FOR THE CW BEING USED TO RID
THE AREA OF THE.PEOPLE.)F�BAID THAT IN HIS VILLAGE OF BAN HOUAI
NOI OVER 100 PERSONS DIED WITHIN FOUR WEEKS AFTER BEING CONTAMINATED
BY THE CW AGENT, AND ABOUT 500 CATTLE ALSO DIED. HE SAID HE HAD
HEARD THAT OTHER DEATHS HAD OCCURRED IN 71E1URROUNDING VILLAGES
BUT HE DID NOT KNOW THE NUMBER. HOWEVER, DID CONFI HAT HE
ALSO HAD HEARD OF THE CW ATTACK ON MUANG CHA IN AUGUST
COMMENT:
AS NOT
ABLE TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON SYMPTOMS OF THE CW AGENT BECAUSE HE WAS
NOT CONTAMINATED.)
6.
COMMENT:
IN
LATE OCTOBER 1979, A LAO RESISTANCE'FORC EA NORTH
OF DONGHEN /WD3246/ AND ALONG THE PHOU SANGHE MOUNTAIN RANGE WAS
ATTACKED BY A TWIN-ENGINE, TWIN-TAILED AIRCRAFT FIRING CW ROCKETS.
THE ROCKETS REPORTEDLY EXPLODED IN THE AIR AND DISPENSED A "WHITE
AND PINK COLORED SMOKE" WHICH CAUSED DIZZINESS, NAUSEA, AND SKIN
INFECTION. THIS IS THE FIRST REPORTED INCIDENT OF CW GAS BEING
USED IN THE SOUTH LPDR.)
REPORT CLASS SECRET/WARNING NOTICE-INTELLIGENCE SOURCES AND
METHODS INVOLVED/NOT RELEASABLE TO FOREIGN NATIONALS
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ALL PORTIONS
CARRY CLASSIFICATION, AND CONTROLS OF OVERALL DuLumziN .
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