THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM NO. 17

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02799638
• Document Creation Date: January 28, 2019

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
6 February 1968
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
The Situation in South Vietnam No. 17
of 7:UU-N-.77-017
Allied troops continued to battle small Com-
munist concentrations in the streets of Saigon and
Hue today as the enemy offensive entered its
second week. It appears that fresh enemy elements
may have been infiltrated into the Saigon area.
While no major new attacks on urban centers
were reported, the enemy again hit two northern
coastal cities with small ground assaults--a de-
velopment which adds to indications that the basic
Communist war strategy now partly envisages con-
tinuing close pressure on the urban centers, which
were formerly safehavens from the fighting.
Scattered fighting in some urban centers in
the Delta continues, and throughout the country
Communist forces still appear in a position and
a state of readiness from which they could launch
a new wave of attacks.
area.
No new fighting developed in the Khe Sanh
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I Corps
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1. US and South Vietnamese troops are continu-
ing their block by block sweep of Hue with slow,
but steady, progress reported. The South Vietnamese
now control the major portion of the two-square-mile
citadel area while US Marines are reported in posses-
sion of 40 percent of the western half of the city.
2. Early this morning an estimated three Viet
Cong companies hit Hoi An and are presently locked
in combat with South Korean troops who have one
small enemy group trapped in a school. The South
Korean force is believed to have inflicted heavy
casualties on the attackers
3. Viet Cong activity was stepped-up in Quang
Ngai city shortly after midnight with a mortar at-
tack on the city followed by a ground assault on
the Revolutionary Development headquarters. The
power plant was struck, but not severely damaged.
4. The cities of Quang Tri and Tam Ky were
quiet during 5-6 February with allied reaction forces
ferreting out the remaining pockets of resistance.
5. The ominous build-up of Communist forces--
including the entire North Vietnamese 2nd Division
and several other regimental-size formations--remains
in the coastal area just south of Da Nang, South
Vietnamese soldiers were engaged in heavy combat some
six miles south of Da Nang this morning, possibly
with one of these enemy units.
6. In the early hours of 6 February, Viet Cong
attacked two refugee camps: Quy Thanh camp in Quang
Tin Province and the Tam Hoa camp in Quang Nam Prov-
ince, destroying nearly 100 houses. A total of 52
Communists were killed during one of the battles.
Civilian casualties were light.
7. The Khe Sanh area remains quiet,/
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II Corps
8. Most of the major provincial capitals in
central South Vietnam were quiet during the night
of 5-6 February. Ban Me Thuot, Tuy Hoa, and the
helicopter airfield at Pleiku were the targets of
limited enemy mortar bombardments. Renewed fighting
was reportedfLn.a battle near Dalat this morning.
9. The action at Dalat involved the Viet Cong
186th Main Force Battalion, a unit previously identi-
fied in the area. The attackers used tear gas dur-
ing one stage of the assault which was continuing at
last report. The enemy troops were reported fully
equipped including gas masks.
10. The capital city of Cheo Reo in Phu Bon
Province was reported girding for an attack expected
during the night of 6-7 February. Other cities
throughout South Vietnam's II Corps are anticipating
renewed attacks and are making defensive preparations.
Saigon
11. Sharp fighting was again reported in the
outlying Cholon section southwest of Saigon last night.
Following up their seizure of the 8th Precinct Police
Headquarters at 8:00 P.M. (Vietnam time), the Viet
Cong captured a nearby police substation and brought
a third substation in the area under heavy fire. In
addition, the Communists detonated a large explosion
in a power plant and engaged police in several fire-
fights. In one action, 25 Viet Cong were said to
have been killed and a wheel-mounted machine gun and
a 60-mm. mortar were captured. Fighting elsewhere
in capital area was relatively light, but two com-
panies of Viet Cong reportedly launched a brief raid
on the main gate at Tan Son Nhut Airbase as civilian
workers were returning to their jobs this morning.
12. The Communists have evidently moved fresh
forces into the capital area. A police report early
this morning indicated that a concentration of some
500 Viet Cong--dressed in the traditional black
peasant dress--had been sighted in Cholon.
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13. Tentative indications that the 3.5(c)
headquarters of the VC 9th Division had moved near
the outskirts of Saigon are now known to have been
erroneous. On 5 February, the headquarters was
confirmed in the Binh Long Province - 3.5(c)
Cambodian border area, a normal base of operations.
It is still believed possible, however, that strong
troops complements from the 9th may be in the Saigon
area.
Other III Corps
14. US Army troops are making search and destroy
sweeps in the area immediately surrounding Saigon in
an effort to prevent additional Viet Gong forces from
infiltrating into the city. On 5 February, in half
a dozen contacts 15 Americans and nearly 150 Commu-
nist troops were killed in these operations. Another
40 US soldiers were wounded
15. Elsewhere in the III Corps area the only
significant military activity reported overnight was
a heavy mortar attack on the US Army brigade base
camp at Quan Loi in Binh Long Province. There was
no report of casualties or damage.
16. Allied forces continue to mop up small
pockets of Viet Cong in Bien Hoa Province. US of-
ficals report that refugees are being given medical
attention by an Australian surgical team at Bien Hoa
Airbase, US Army food stocks have at least temporarily
alleviated a food shortage problem for civilians,
and local GVN agencies are copinP: adequately with
other problems.
17. Only about 1,000 :refugees remain in Bien
Hoa city itself as most have returned to their homes
or the homes of relatives. Highway 1 between Bien
Hoa and Saigon is still considered insecure and
travel on it has been restricted.
IV Corps
18. Fighting was reported within or on the
outskirts of a number of provincial capitals and
district towns in the delta on Monday and early this
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morning. The heaviest action was in Can Tho where
some 40 to 50 Viet Cong have fortified themselves
in the university buildings in the city. Airstrikes
were being directed at the Communist positions at
last report.
19. Light Communist uortar fire and ground
probes took place near Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Soc Trang
and at a number of other locations in the delta late
yesterday and this morning. Significant results
were reported only at Vinh Long where one US soldier
was killed and 24 were wounded. In general, the
Viet Cong in the delta appear to have lost the momentum
that they displayed early last week. The continuing
harassment activities by the Communists, however, have
kept many cities tense, and renewed large scale attacks
are feared in several areas.
20. In the city of Cao Lanh US officials report
that civilian morale is low due to a shortage of
rice and to uncertainty over Viet Cong intentions.
Rach Gia city is quiet, although the people expect
another attack at any time. Other cities which are
still off balance and fear new attacks are My Tho
and Tra Vinh. Some estimates place the number of
Communists around the latter city as high as three
Viet Cong battalions and several local force companies.
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