THAI-KAMPUCHEAN BORDER SITUATION REPORT AS OF 1700 HOURS LOCAL TIME

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06157002
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2017
• Case Number: F-2012-01432
• Publication Date: April 16, 1984

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S E Cj1 FTWIRIPM WNINTEL
161 20Z
TO: IMMEDIATE NPIC, DIRNSA, DEPT OF STATE, DIA, TREASURY DEPT,
WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL STAFF,
ZEN/CIA OFFICE OF CURRENT OPERATIONS;
USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI, CINCPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI, CDRWESTCOM FT
SHAFTER HI, COMIPAC HONOLULU HI, CINCPACAF HICKAM AFB HI,
COMSEVENTHFLT, 13AF CLARK AB PI.
SERIAL:
PASS:
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WARNING: INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE.
REPORT CLASSSECRET--WNINTEL--NOFORN
01ST:
COUNTRY:
SUBJ:
DOI:
SOURCE:
16 APR 84
KAMPUCHEA/VIETNAM/THAILAND
THAI-KAMPUCHEAN BORDER SITUATION REPORT AS OF 1700
HOURS LOCAL TIME
SEE BELOW.
SUMMARY: AS OF 0900 HOURS ON 16 APRIL 1984, KPNLF FORCES AT
BAN SA NGAE STILL HELD THE CAMP, AND THE FRONT LINE WAS WEST'
OF LAKE AMPIL. THE PAVN ATTACK ON THE BAN SA NGAE AREA BEGAN
EARLY ON 15 APRIL WITH ARTILLERY, FOLLOWED BY A TWO-PRONGED
ATTACK. SOME RTA 'OFFICERS SUSPECTED THAT PAVN HAD USED CHEMICAL
AGENTS IN THE ATTACK, BUT CONFIRMATION WAS NOT AVAILABLE. AS OF
1700 HOURS ON 15 APRIL, THE EASTERN 25 PERCENT OF BAN SA NGAE
CAMP HAD BEEN BURNED. PAVN-DK FIGHTING WAS TAKING. PLACE IN THE
PAILIN, KAMPUCHEA, AREA AS OF 15 APRIL, AS WAS FIGHTING IN THE
PHNOM MELAI-NAM SAP AREA WITH PAVN TRYING TO DISLODGE OK 320TH
DIVISION TROOPS FROM ONE LOCATION. ALONG THE NORTHERN TIER OF
THE BORDER NEAR BAN TRAWAENG, PAVN FORCES HAD OCCUPIED HILL 450
ABOUT ONE. OR TWO KILOMETERS IN THAI TERRITORY, AND RTA 6TH'
DIVISION FORCES WERE MOVING TO REPEL THE UNIT. IT WAS NOT
YET KNOWN WHETHER MISSILE OR ANTIAIRCRAFT FIRE HAD SHOT DOWN
AN RTAF L-19 OBSERVATION AIRCRAFT ON 15 APRIL.
TEXT: 1. AT 0900 H0URSDN 16 APRIL 1684
KHMER PEOPLE'S NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT
(KPNLF) FORCES AT BAN SA NGAE STILL HELD THE CAMP, AND THE FRONT
LINE WAS WEST OF LAKE AMPIL. AS OF LATE ON 15 APRIL, KPNLF
CCASUALTIES WERE FIVE DEAD AND AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF SOLDIERS AND
CIVILIANS WOUNDED. TWO PEOPLE'S
ARMY OF VIETNAM (PAL REGIMENTS WERE IN FRONT OF BAN SA NGAE,
BUT ONLY THREE BATTALIONS WERE INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK. THE
MAIN PAVN THRUST, INVOLVING AN ESTIMATED 400 MEN, WAS AGAINST
THE KPNLF SOUTHERN FLANK. A SECONDARY ATTACK, INVOLVING ABOUT
300 MEN, CAME DIRECTLY FROM THE EAST. ,THE PAVN ATTACKS WERE
SUPPORTED BY 105-MILIMETER (MM) FIRE FROM TWO POSITIONS NEAR
PHUM THMFI (TA An4R)
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� 2. THE PAVN ATTACK AT BAN SA NGAE BEGAN AT ABOUT 04000
HOURS ON 15 APRIL WITH ARTILLERY, FOLLOWED BY THE TWO-PRONGED
GROUND ATTACK AT 0530 HOURS. THE ATTACK NORTH OF LAKE AMPIL
CAME TO WITHIN ABOUT TWO AND ONE-HALF KILOMETERS OF THE THAI
BORDER, WHILE THE ATTACK SOUTH OF THE LAKE CAME WITHIN TWO
KILOMETERS OF THE BORDER BEFORE BEING HALTED. THE KPNLF TROOPS
WERE REPORTED TO BE LOW ON AMMUNITION, BUT HAD SUFFICIENT FOOD.
THE PAVN RESUMED ARTILLERY SHELLING OF KPNLF TROOPS WITH ABOUT
20 ROUNDS OF 105MM ARTILLERY AT 0630 HOURS ON 16 APRIL, BUT,
AS OF MID-MORNING ON 16 APRIL, HAD NOT LAUNCHED ANOTHER GROUND
ATTACK. GENERAL ((DIEN)) DEL COMMANDED THE KPNLF TROOPS ON 15
APRIL, BUT GENERAL ((SAK)) SUTSAKHAN RETURNED FROM BANGKOK IN
THE EVENING OF 15 APRIL AND ASSUMFD cnmmAnin
3. SOME RTA OFFICERS SUSPECTED THAT CHFICT L AGENTS HAD
BEEN USED BY PAVN FORCES IN THE ATTACK. ABOUT 35 KPNLF SOLDIERS
ENGAGED WEST OF LAKE AMP
ATTACK1_IHEIR PRIMARY SYMPTOM APPEARED TO BE THE. VOMITING OF
BLOOD. FIVE CASES WERE CONSIDERED "SERIOUS," AND THE SOLDIERS
WERE HOSPITALIZED AT THE KHAOI DANGREFLJGEE HOSPITAL. AN UNIDEN-
TIFIED DOCTOR INITIALLY BELIEVED THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS WERE
SUFFERING FROM A TEAR-TAS ATTACK BUT LATER TOLD
THAT THE CAUSE-AS A MURE "SE*ERE" FORM OF UNSPECIFIED CHEMICA
COMMENT: NO FURTHER DETAILS ARE V
4. CIVILIANS.AT BAN SA NGAE HAD BEEN EVACUATED AS OF 1400 HOURS
ON 15 APRIL. THAI AUTHORITIES PLANNED TO HAVE ALL CIVILIANS MOVED
TO A REFUGEE ASSEMBLY AREA IN THE VICINITY OF BAN SAN RO CHANANG
(TA 7562) BY NIGHTFALL, BUT THERE WERE INDICATIONS THAT LARGE
NUMBERS OF REFUGEES WERE INSTEAD CHOOSING TO GO TO THE REFUGEE
CAMP AT DUNG RUK.
6.
7. THE FIGHTING IN THE PHNOM MELAI-NAM SAP AREA ON 15
APRIL INVOLVED PAVN TROOPS TRYING TO DISLODGE OK 320TH DIVISION
TROOPS FROM THE VILLAGE OF DOM NAK CHEK (UNLOCATED). THE VILLAGE
STRADDLED AN IMPROVED TRAIL LEADING FROM BAVEL WESTWARD THROUGH
OK-HELD TERRITORY TO THE THAI-KAMPUCHEAN BORDER. AS LONG AS THE
DX HELD THIS VILLAGE, RTA OFFICERS BELIEVED THE PAVN APPARENTLY
WOULD BE PREVENTED FROM BRINGING ARMOR AND ARTILLERY INTO THE
DX AREA.
8. IN THE FIGHTING ALONG THE NORTHERN TIER NEAR BAN TRAWAENG,
AS OF LATE ON 15 APRIL, THE PAVN HAD OCCUPIED HILL 450, ABOUT
ONE OR TWO KILOMETERS IN THAI TERRITORY NEAR CHONG PHRIK PASS
(UA 8686), WITH ABOUT ONE PLATOON OF TROOPS. THE SECOND BATTALION,
23RD REGIMENT, RTA 6TH DIVISION, WAS MOVING TO REPEL THE PAVN
UNIT, BUT HAD NOT ESTABLISHED CONTACT AS OF EARLY 16 APRIL. THERE
HAD BEEN EXCHANGES OF ARTILLERY FIRE FROM POSITIONS LOCATED NEAR BAN
CHAWAT (UNLOCATED), APPROXIMATELY EIGHT KILOMETERS FROM THE IN
KAMPUCHEA.
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9.
10. THE PILOT OF THE ROYAL
THAI AIR FORCE (RTAF) L-19 AIRCRAFT THAT WAS SHOT DOWN IN THE
BAN TRAWAENG AREA PARACHUTED TO SAFETY. HOWEVER, THE OBSERVER,
WHO WAS WITHOUT A PRACHUTE, PERISHED. COMMENT: THE
FOREGOING CONFLICTS WITH EARLIER INFORMATION TO THE EFFECT THAT
TWO PILOTS AND ONE OBSERVER WERE SEEN EXITING THE AIRCRAFT BY
PARACHUTE.) EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE TO DETERMINE WHETHER
THE PLANE HAD BEEN BROUGHT DOWN BY MISSILE OR ANTIAIRCRAFT FIRF
HAD NOT BE
REPORT CLASSSECRET--WARNING NOTICE-INTELLIGENCE SOURCES
OR METHODS INVOLVED--NOT RELEASABLE TO FOREIGN NATIONALS--FGI.
ALL
FURIWNS CARRY CLASSIFICATION AND CONTROLS OF OVERALL DOCUMENT.
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