COMMENTS OF HMONG REFUGEES ON LPDR-INITIATED POISONOUS GAS ATTACKS IN THE PHOU BIA AREA, LPDR

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06156953
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2017
• Case Number: F-2012-01432
• Publication Date: November 26, 1979

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REPORT CLASS SECRET/WNINTEL--NOFORN
COUNTRY LAOS/USSR/VIETNAM
SUBJECT COMMENTS OF HMONG REFUGEES ON LPDR-INITIATED POISONOUS GAS
ATTACKS IN THE PHOU BIA AREA, LPDR
SOURCE
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SUMMARY: ACCORDING TO SEVERAL EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS BY HMONG REFUGEES
FROM THE PHOU BIA AREA OF NORTHERN LPDR, POISONOUS GASES USED IN
THE SUPPRESSION OF RESISTANCE ACTIVITIES BEGAN IN 1977 AND STOPPED
AROUND LATE 1978 WHEN RESISTANCE FORCES BEGAN DISPERSING INTO
SMALLER GROUPS. THERE WERE TWO TYPES OF GASES USED - ONE OF BLUE
COLOR AND THE OTHER RED. THE CHEMICAL WARFARE (CW) AGENTS WERE
CONTAINED IN ROCKETS FIRED FROM LIGHT OBSERVATION AIRCRAFT AND
DETONATED EITHER BY TIME DELAY OR IMPACT. ONE REFUGEE WHO CLAIMED
TO HAVE SEEN ONE DUD ROCKET SAID THAT MARKINGS ON THE WEAPON
INDICATED IT WAS OF U.S. MANUFACTURE BUT HAD BEEN MODIFIED.WITH
A SOVIET NOSE CONE WHICH WAS BELIEVED TO CONTAIN THE CW AGENT.
END SUMMARY.
1. ACCORDING TO STATEMENTS OF A NUMBER OF HMONG REFUGEES FROM THE
PHOU BIA AREA (UF0698), LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (LPDR), IN
LATE OCTOBER 1979, CHEMICAL WARFARE (CW) AGENTS USED IN THE PHOU BIA,
PHOU KONG KHAO (TG1313), AND PHOU YOEI (SF9398) AREAS HAD BEEN
. A WERE
LAUNCHED FROM "L-19" AIRCRAFT FLO FROM VANG VIANG (TF3294),
VIENTIANE (TE4388), AND PAKSANE (UF
CON i" E FED TI TO TARGET AREA AND DETONATED IN THE
AIR OR ON IMPACT. THE POISONOUS GAS WAS DESCRIBED AS SOMETIMES A
"BLUE COLOR" AND OTHER TIMES A "RED."
IN FEBRUARY 1978 PERSONS EXPOSED 10
THE RED COLOREB-GgrIN THE PHU BIA AREA DIED IN ABOUT 12 HOURS
FOLLOWING EXPOSURE TO THE CW AGENT.
2. ANOTHER REFUGEE SAID HE KNEW OF 22 HMONG
IN THE PHU BIA AREA WHO HAD DIED OF EXPOSURE TO THE CW AGENT UP TO
FOUR MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF INITIAL CONTAMINATION IN FEBRUARY 1978.
BELIEVED THE PURPOSE OF USING THE CW AGENT WAS AN ATTEMPT
TO ELIMINATE AS MUCH OF THE HMONG RESISTANCE IN THE HILLY
TERRAIN AS POSSIBLE BEFORE COMMITTING LPDR GOVERNMENT TROOPS TO CON-
VENTIONAL SUPPRESSION OPERATIONS. HE SAID HE BELIEVED THE LAST CW
ATTACK IN THE PHOU BIA AREA WAS CONDUCTED IN MID-FEBRUARY 1978.
THEREAFTER, LPDR TROOPS CEASED ITS USE IN THIS AREA BECAUSE H
FORCES HAD SPLIT AND DISPERSED INTO SMALLER GUERRILLA UNITS.
SAID THAT AS OF 20 OCTOBER 1979 WHEN HE LEFT THE PHOU BIA AREA HE
ESTIMATED THERE WERE ONLY 1,500 HMONG INHABITANTS LIVING THERE,
A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE FROM WHAT HE ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN A HMONG
POPULATION OF 8,000 IN 1975.
3.
ANOTHER REFUGEE SAID THAT ON 16 APRIL 1977
NEAR PHOU SANG, ABOUT 30 KILOMETERS WEST OF PHOU BIA, HE
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DISCOVERED AN UNEXPLODED ROCKET WHICH HE BELIEV WAS THE SAME KIND
USED IN THE GAS ATTACKS AGAINST THE RESISTANCE. SAID THE ROCKET,
AN APPARENT DUD, WAS FOUND IN TWO PIECES AND MEASURED OVERALL
APPROXIMATELY 120 CENTIMETERS (CMS) LONG, A DIAMETER OF ABOUT 12.5
CMS, AND WEIGHED AN ESTIMATED THREE KILOGRAMS.
SAID THE ROCKET HAD SEVERAL MARKINGS AND
APPEARED COLOR-CODED. A DIAGRAM MADE BY THE RESISTANCE SHOWED THE
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TIP OF THE MISSILE TO MEASURE ABOUT 10 CMS LONG TO BE MADE OF LEAD OR
STEEL AND TO BE THE COLOR OF ALUMINUM. THE NEXT PART BELOW THE TIP
MEASURED ABOUT 30-32 CMS AND WAS ALSO THE COLOR OF ALUMINUM BUT IN
ADDITION HAD RED STRIPES SPACED AROUND ITS BODY. SAID THERE
WERE THREE LINES OF WRITING WHICH HE BELIEVED TO BE "RUSSIAN,"
BUT WHICH COULD NOT BE UNDERSTOOD. COMMENT: AID THE
DETERMINATION OF THE LANGUAGE WAS MADE BY
kOPINION THAT THE ROCKET CANISTER WAS OF U.S. MANUFACTURE BUT
HAD BEEN MODIFIED BY THE SOVIETS IN THE UPPER STAGE TO CONTAIN
POISONOUS GAS.
4. COMMENTING FURTHER ON THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ROCKET,
SAID THE NEXT SECTION BELOW THE RED STRIPED PORTION WAS ABOUT 20 CMS
LONG AND COLORED GREEN, FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER SECTION COLORED RED,
AND A FINAL PORTION THAT WAS NONDESCRIPT. THE FOLLOWING MARKINGS
WERE NOTED: IN THE GREEN AREA AND IN BLOCK LETTERS WERE THE WORDS
"TORQUE HEAD TO 55 PLUS 10 PLUS ZERO FT LBS;" IN THE RED AREA AND
ALSO IN BLOCK LETTERS WERE THE WORDS "2 75 ROCKET MOTOR MK 40 MOD 3,
BVO RD OWG NO 9220803, MCA-6-101 (FOLLOWED BY. WHAT MAY BE A STAR
SYMBOL), PK43 MOD 1 LOT NO BAJ7601, FSN1340-935-6021-J106, USE ONLY
BETWEEN 65 (DEGREES) F AND 150;" AND FINALLY, AT THE END OF THE
ROCKET AND 71gT_BE7ORE THE PROPELLER FINS WERE THE WORDS "LOT ALC
1-52-370." COMMENT: IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THERE MAY BE
SOME SLIGHT VARIATIONS IN THE FOREGOING WHEN COMPARED WITH MANU-
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FACTURER' SPECIFICATION. THIS IS DUE TO AN UNCLEAR SKETCH AND THE
FACT NOT ALL OF THE LETTERS COULD BE REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS
PRINTED.)
5. 3AID HE HAD WITNESSED THE DEATHS OF SIX OF HIS FAMILY,
INCLUDING HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, WHO WERE CONTAMINATED WITH
POISONOUS GAS IN JANUARY 1977. HE SAID THE SIX HAD BEEN WORKING IN
A RICE FIELD IN THE TAM LO AREA WHEN AN L-19 AIRCRAFT APPEARED OVER-
HEAD AND FIRED A ROCKET WHICH EXPLODED IN A RED TOXIC GAS. INITIALLY,
HIS FAMILY COMPLAINED OF BLURRED VISION, HEADACHE, NAUSEA AND
VOMITING, INFLAMED EYES WHICH WATERED, DIZZINESS, AND AN OVERALL
FEELING OF WEAKNESS. PHA SAID THAT HIS FATHER DIED ABOUT 12 HOURS
AFTER EXPOSURE. HIS MOTHER, WHO ALSO EXPERIENCED ACUTE DIARRHEA,
DIED WITHIN 16 HOURS THE REMAINDER OF HIS FAMILY ALL PERISHED THE
FOLLOWING NIGHT AFTER THE GAS ATTACK.F-----AID THAT OTHER HMONG
PEOPLE EXPOSED TO THE POISONOUS GASES LINGERED ON FOR UP TO THREE
AND FOUR MONTHS. IN THESE CASES, THE INITIAL SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR
TO THOSE OF HIS FAMILY WHO DIED WITHIN A DAY OR TWO, BUT ALSO
INCLUDED SEVERE DIARRHEA, DIZZINESS, AND A FEELING OF THIRSTINESS.
THE MORE LIQUIDS THE PERSON DRANK, THE MORE URINE WAS PASSED UNTIL
EVENTUALLY THEY DIED OF DEHYDRATION. OTHER SYMPTOMS INCLUDED THE
CORNEA OF THE EYE TURNING A MILKY COLOR RESULTING IN BLINDNESS, A
LOSS-07F-TaiTET�WinARNESS, ANDT-Mi-INUTK1TION.
6 ANOTHER HMONG REFUGEE,
\PROVIDED
THE FOLLOWING RECORD OF CW ATTACKS FROM AUGUST 1977 TO 10 NOVEMBER
1978:
A. ON 1 AUGUST 1977, AN L-19 AIRCRAFT USED CW AGENTS ON THE
PHOU HE AREA (TF9377), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 20 KILOMETERS SOUTH OF
PHOU BIA, RESULTING IN 81 DEATHS AND 165 CONTAMINATED.
COMMENT: CONTAMINATED REFERS TO PERSONS EXPOSED TO GAS WHO PROBABLY
DIED AT A
B.
THE AREAS
(UF1389),
LATER DATE.)
FROM 10 FEBRUARY TO 29 MARCH 1978, CW AGENTS WERE USED IN
OF THA VIENG (UF2797), XIENG KHONG (UG1804), NAM FENG
AND MUANG AO (UF0781)RESULTING IN AN ESTIMATED 100
PEOPLE KILLED AND OVER 100 OTHERS CONTAMINATED.
C. FROM 29 MARCH TO 5 APRIL 1978, CW AGENTS WERE AGAIN USED IN
THE MUANG AO AREA WITH AN ESTIMATED 200 KILLED AND ANOTHER, 100 CON-
TAMINATED.
D. ON 28 APRIL 1978, CW AGENTS WERE USED ON BAN TAM SAE
(UF1895), BAN PHA TAM KHUM (UG1102), AND BAN SALA UG1502) WITH THE
RESULT 39 KILLED AND 54 CONTAMINATED.
E. ON 7 JUNE 1978, AT 1000 HOURS, AN L-19 AIRCRAFT FIRED CW
AGENTS INTO THE HMONG RESISTANCE HEADQUARTERS AT TAM KHAI (TF9696)
RESULTING IN 13 DEATHS AND EIGHT CONTAMINATIONS.
F. FROM 21 JUNE TO 7 JULY 1978, CW AGENTS WERE USED IN THE
PHOU LAN AREA (UG2215) IN THE FOOTHILLS OF PHOU BIA RESULTING
IN 76 PERSONS KILLED AND 41 CONTAMINATED. DURING THIS SAME PERIOD,
730 HMONG WERE KILLED AND 254 OTHERS WOUNDED DURING COMBINED LAO
PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY (LPLA) AND PEOPLE'S ARMY OF VIETNAM (PAVN)
MILITARY OPERATIONS USING CONVENTIONAL WEAPONRY. COMMENT:
FROM 20-29 SEPTEMBER 1978, THE TAM KHAI
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COMMAND HEADQUARTERS IN THE PHOU BIA AREA, WHICH HAD ONCE
ACCOMMODATED APPROXIMATELY 60,000 .PEOPLE, WAS CAPTURED BY LPLA AND
PAVN FORCES. IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT 30 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE HAD
BEEN KILLED, 10 PERCENT WOUNDED, 30 PERCENT HAD ESCAPED (FLED TO
THAILAND), AND THE OTHER 30 PERCENT WERE SCATTERED AND LIVING IN THE
JUNGLE.)
G. ON 10 NOVEMBER 1978, THE TAM KHAI HEADQUARTERS WAS AGAIN
ATTACKED WITH 6.1 AGENTS CAUSING SEVEN DEATHS AND 24 OTHERS CONTAMIN-
ATED.
REPORT CLASS SECRET/WARNING NOTICE--INitLLIC7hDILt,
METHODS INVOLVED/NOT RELEASABLE TO FOREIGN NATIONALS.
ALL PORTIONS
CARRY CLASSIFICATION AND CONTROLS OF OVERALL DOCUMENT
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