SCIENCE AND WEAPONS DAILY REVIEW

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06158187
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2017
• Case Number: F-2012-01432
• Publication Date: July 6, 1983

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Science and Weapons
Daily Review
6 July 1983
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CONTENTS
6 JULY 1983
1 SOUTHEAST ASIA/AFGHAN/STAN: APPARENT DECREASE IN LETHAL
CHEMICAL ATTACKS �(*14.),
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OSWR
Science and Weapons
Daily Review
SOUTHEAST ASIAPTGHANISTAN: APPARENT DECREASE IN LETHAL CHEMICAL
ATTACKS 1id4,
In the past five months, significant hostilities have continued
in the san. areas of Southeast Asia and Afghanistan where lethal
chemical�,,earions were used frr,1 late 1979 to mid-1982./
screeninc of victim refugees and their medical histories,
physical caminations, and tests. By April 1983, a sharp
decrease in the number of chemical attacks was reported. This
included both .a decline in reported deaths and an absence of
medical evidence of mycotoxin effects, such as bleeding and
blistering.
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A number of important findings resulted, AiSi*S. to _
f,ield hospitals and interviews with physicians actively involved
%in screening .for Clob-toxin injuries and :_reviewing patient
histories revealed little evidenceol4p01:ents or .refugees having
observed or .been exposed to lethal chemical attacks in 1983.
Victims with active lesions and evidence of attacks in mid-to-
late-1982 were, however, encountered, further confirming our
earlier findings. New information of Soviet involvement in the
supp:, and use of agents An Southeast Asia also was obtained.
There often is a lag, some times as long as 60 to 90 days, from
the time of attack to receipt of either human or sample evidence.
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But, extensive efforts have been made beginning this year to
contact all new arrivals at the holding centers to question them
shout CW-related incidents, and to screen them for medical signs.
and symptoms. This process has resulted in some cases being
turned up by nurses, physicians, and social workers in northern
Thailand for refugees coming from Laos), eastern Thailand. (for
Cambodia), and Peshawar, Pakistan (for Afghanistan).
'In Laos, 12 chemical attacks were reported in 1983, the most
'recent on 7 May. Two reports claimed deaths--one subsequently.
W48 found to have been caused by non-chemical means and one.
remains ./riconfirmed. Two rer-rts claimed toxin signs and
symptom--One was found to be spurious and one is unconfirmed.
The remCoing attacks were characterized as non-lethal. In
Cambodia, none of the reported deaths in 1983 have been
confirmed, but one of three alleged victims from a March attack
had detectable levels of toxins in her blood. All physical and
biological control inrnexposed subjects and h sical locations)
samples from both coUi.aies were negative.
Medical evidence, first noted in late 1982, shows that an
-unidentified non-lethal or. blister agent that causes extreme
discomfort and sometimes dizziness is continuing to he used in
trios in 1983. In Afghanistan, there is evidence of continued use
of an unidentified agent that causes unconsciousness for several
hours with little side effects and no systemic Medical problems- ,
and in Cambodia, frequent attacks occurred with irritants and
,riot-control agents.
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the resistance leadership denies having any evidence of
le chemical attacks in 1983, and the civilian Hmong
leadership denied any chemical use except for ".tear gas." .The
IeadPrship of the Kampuchean Popular National Liberation Front,
,xhmk,. Rouge, and other resistance fighters in(ET-4,)have been
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contacted, and they also deny lethal chemical Weapons use. These
include long-standing reliable contacts who would have preferred
to have provided pos3ive evidence. Physicians and military
sources in Afghanistan, who similarly have provided excellent
data in the past, also reported that no deaths due to chemical
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weapons have occurred since early 1983. Upon close questioning
of all of these sousces, At was clear that absence of attacks
with lethal agents rather than presence of improved individual
'protective measures accounts for the decrease.
Physical samples continue to be received from alleged sites of
attacks that occurred in 1983; but the evidence lacks specific
locations, times, and effects, or it indicates the use of non-
lethal chemicals. Recently acquired and analyzed samples from
mid-1982, however, show positive results for lethal toxins.
covering northeastern Laos and southern Cambodia,
areas wnere US collection efforts always have been limited, in
the past, these areas have yielded nome of the best physical
evidence available of lethal and mycotoxin chemical use. The
.responsible for CW Collection recently
were con"cacted and acknowledged they too have no evidence of
'chemical attacks since the beginning of 1983, excert for riot-
control agents. They also confirm having laboratory evidence of
lethal agents from 1982 attack sites. �
Significant -uncertainties remain concerning our observations:
It is possible that we may have missed some refugee
arrivals in remote border locations, especially from
northeast and western Laos.
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-- There is a laj averaging one month, hut in some cases as
long as three months, in the acquisition from refugee and
resistance groups of reports of attacks.
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-- There is a lsg in the reporting and analysis of
biolo ical and physical samples from 1983 attack sites.
consistent evidence from all
human and technical sources indicate an absence of lethal
chemical incidents since the beginning of this year and provide
support to the hypothesis that the cessation of these attacks
reflects a -.7onsc1ous policy change by the Soviets and their
surrogates. /
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