Patriotic Neutralists

Last updated

The Patriotic Neutralists were an armed political movement of the Laotian Civil War. Founded in April 1963 by a schism within the Forces Armee Neutraliste (FAN) when the latter favored alliance with the Royal Lao Army, the Patriotic Neutralists allied themselves with the opposing Communist forces in the war. The most notable military action that involved them was a devastating air raid on 13 October 1969 that killed all its officers except commanding officer Colonel Deuane Sunnalath. Although it retained a nominally separate identity from the Pathet Lao, Patriotic Neutralist leaders Deuane Sunnalath and Khamouane Boupha would succeed to ministerial posts in the communist-dominated Provisional Government of National Union on 9 April 1974.

Contents

Background

The Patriotic Neutralists were indirectly created by the 1960 coup d'état led by Kong Le. When the paratrooper captain captured control of the Kingdom of Laos in August 1960, he founded Forces Armee Neutraliste (Neutral Armed Forces) as a non-aligned third side in the Laotian Civil War; the other sides were the Communists and the Royalists. Captain Kong Le would subsequently lose both the Battle of Vientiane and control of Laos in December 1960, and retreat to the Plain of Jars. Once there, he was originally helped by the Pathet Lao communists, but turned away from them toward the Royalists. Dissatisfaction within his ranks would lead to a split in the neutralist movement in April 1963. The new pro-communist faction was the Patriotic Neutralists. [1] [2]

Origin

In April 1963, Lieutenant Deuane Sunnalath would lead a defection that established itself as a pro-communist neutralist force, the Patriotic Neutralists, as opposed to the pro-Royalist FAN. [1] [2] He founded the Patriotic Neutralists from units abandoning FAN. [3] Deuane had about 250 troops under his command in Military Region 2; they allied themselves with General Khamouane Boupha's force of 1,500 in far northern Phongsali Province. The Phetsarath Artillery Battalion, which had downed an Air America resupply plane, was one of the units that joined Deuane. Battalion Parachutistes 1 (Battalion of Parachutists 1) was another, along with all of Khamouane's Neutralist Forces from Military Region 1. In the southern panhandle, the majority of Battalion Infanterie 4 (Battalion of Infantry 4) near Tchepone defected to the new movement, which allied itself with the Pathet Lao communists. On 6 April 1963, the Pathet Lao launched several simultaneous surprise attacks on the Neutralists on the Plain of Jars. On 10 April 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy approved U.S. military aid supply drops to bolster FAN. Although FAN was driven from its positions, it evacuated most of its vehicles and crew-served weapons to Muong Phanh. [3]

Joining the communists

By the time of the 1964 coup, the Patriotic Neutralists had been largely absorbed into the Pathet Lao, [4] although the two sides held the first of its biannual cooperative mock political congresses in 1964. [5] On the Plain of Jars, the coup sparked further dissension in the Neutralist movement. Two of FAN's paratroop battalions—BP 4 and BP 6—favored siding with the communists. On 27 April 1964, as the Royalist garrison withdrew from Phou San, it was attacked and defeated by communist forces as nearby FAN units deigned to intervene. However, when Pathet Lao occupied the vacated strongpoint overlooking Kong Le's headquarters at Muong Phan, his Bataillon Parachutistes 5 unsuccessfully assaulted the mountaintop. Six days later, the third mountaintop position, on Phou Nong, also fell. The defeated troops split into two columns escaping in opposite directions, with the Royalists retreating southeast while FAN withdrew to the northwest. [6]

On 13 May 1964, as Pathet Lao troops moved to isolate the Neutralist garrisons at Muong Phan and Muong Kheung, a revolt against Kong Le broke out within FAN. His armored commander, Colonel Sourideth, encircled Kong Le's headquarters with a dozen tanks. The next day, BP 4 went over to Deuane's Patriotic Neutralists. One company of the latter was fighting in an offensive against Royalist regiment Groupement Mobile 17 (Mobile Group 17). Kong Le withdrew FAN from the Plain in good order, except for an inconsequential loss of small arms. However, in June, his armored force of 23 vehicles had to be abandoned at Muong Kheung. [6] The American Special National Intelligence Estimate of 5 August 1965 credited the Patriotic Neutralists as an ineffectual force of 2,600 men. [7]

The Patriotic Neutralists established their headquarters within a known no-strike zone so that it could not be bombed by air strikes. The rules of engagement followed by the American forces within the Kingdom of Laos posited a 16 kilometer wide sanctuary along the border of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to avoid inadvertent attacks on the DRV. However, in October 1969, the American ambassador changed the rules of engagement; the protected border area was cut to eight kilometers. The Patriotic Neutralist headquarters lay in the newly exposed zone. At 0600 hours on 13 October 1969, one of the Raven FACs flying a T-28 Trojan directed a pair of F-4 Phantoms in a devastating raid on the headquarters. All of Deuane's subordinate officers were killed; however, he was in the DRV at the time. [8]

As the communists gained power toward the end of the Laotian Civil War, the Patriotic Neutralist front was still recognized as a separate organization. Some of its leaders were appointed to positions in the communist-dominated Provisional Government of National Union. Deuane Sunnalath was appointed as Deputy Minister for Education on 9 April 1974. That same day, Khamouane Boupha was named as Deputy Minister of Defense.[ citation needed ]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Conboy, Morrison, pp. 32–33.
  2. 1 2 Anthony, Sexton, p. 29.
  3. 1 2 Conboy, Morrison, p. 98.
  4. ↑ Brown, p. 202.
  5. ↑ Stuart-Fox, p. 250.
  6. 1 2 Conboy, Morrison, pp. 107–108.
  7. ↑ Staff for Director of Central Intelligence, p. 4.
  8. ↑ Robbins, pp. 239–240.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kong Le</span>

Captain Kong Le was a paratrooper in the Royal Lao Army. He led the premier unit of the Royal Lao Army, 2ème bataillon de parachutistes, which campaigned relentlessly during 1959 and 1960. The idealistic young American-trained Lao Theung officer became known worldwide when on 10 August 1960 he and his mutinous paratroopers overthrew the Royal Lao Government in a coup d'état. He declared he aimed at an end to government corruption; to the shock of American officials, he declared U.S. policies were responsible for the ongoing fraud.

Major-General Kouprasith Abhay was a prominent military leader of the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War. Scion of a socially prominent family, his military career was considerably aided by their influence. In early 1960, he was appointed to command of Military Region 5, which included Laos' capital city, Vientiane. Removed from that command on 14 December for duplicitous participation in the Battle of Vientiane, he was reappointed in October 1962. He would hold the post until 1 July 1971, thus controlling the troops in and around the capital. Over the years, he would be involved in one way or another in the coups of 1960, 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1973. His service was marked by a deadly feud with another Laotian general, Thao Ma; the feud was largely responsible for the latter two coup attempts against the government.

The Battle of Luang Namtha, fought between January 1962 and May 1963, was a series of clashes in the Laotian Civil War. It came about as a result of the turmoil following Laotian independence as a result of the First Indochina War with France. The Kingdom of Laos had foreign soldiers on its soil, and a political struggle in progress concerning those outside troops. Following a coup and counter-coup that left General Phoumi Nosavan in charge, the general decided on military action to settle the political issue of interlopers in Laos.

The Battle of Lak Sao, fought between November 1963 and January 1964, was a major engagement of the Laotian Civil War. In November 1963, General Phoumi Nosavan, who held the reins of military power in the Kingdom of Laos, launched a military offensive against North Vietnamese invaders that cut across the northern panhandle of the nation. Although unsupported in this proxy action by his backers in the U.S. Embassy, he went ahead with his plan to push northwards from Nhommarath, then veer eastwards to the Vietnamese border. Phoumi's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) advisors warned him that the North Vietnamese would retaliate, but he disregarded them.

Operation Triangle was a military operation of the Laotian Civil War staged from 19—29 July 1964. Although planned by the General Staff of the Royal Lao Army, it was subject to American approval because the RLA depended on the Americans for finances, supplies, and munitions. Operation Triangle was an ambitious undertaking dependent on martial skills unfamiliar to the Lao. It not only called for coordination of infantry, artillery, and tactical air strikes among forces of three different nationalities; as a covert operation, it also had to have plausible deniability.

The Battle of Vientiane was the decisive action of the 1960 Laotian coups. Fought between 13 and 16 December 1960, the battle ended with General Phoumi Nosavan winning control of the Kingdom of Laos with the aid of the Royal Thai Government and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Vientiane was left devastated by the fighting, with about 600 civilians dead, about the same number of homes destroyed, and 7,000 left homeless. The losing Forces Armées Neutralistes under Captain Kong Le retreated onto the strategic Plain of Jars, to begin an uneasy coexistence with the Pathet Lao and the invading People's Army of Vietnam.

The 1960 Laotian coups brought about a pivotal change of government in the Kingdom of Laos. General Phoumi Nosavan established himself as the strongman running Laos in a bloodless coup on 25 December 1959. He would be himself overthrown on 10 August 1960 by the young paratrooper captain who had backed him in the 1959 coup. When Captain Kong Le impressed the American officials underwriting Laos as a potential communist, they backed Phoumi's return to power in November and December 1960. In turn, the Soviets backed Kong Le as their proxy in this Cold War standoff. After the Battle of Vientiane ended in his defeat, Kong Le withdrew northward to the strategic Plain of Jars on 16 December 1960.

Forces Armées Neutralistes was an armed political movement of the Laotian Civil War.

Lieutenant Deuane Sunnalath led a schism within neutralist forces fighting in the Laotian Civil War. After following Captain Kong Le through his 1960 coup that established a third side in the war, Deuane led a walkout from Kong Le's Forces Armee Neutraliste in April 1963. Deuane would lead his disaffected Patriotic Neutralists into an alliance with the Communists, while the remaining Neutralists in FAN would favor the Royalists. Deuane would eventually become the Deputy Minister of Education in the Provisional Government for National Union on 9 April 1974.

Kham Ouane Boupha is a Laotian soldier and politician. Appointed to command Phongsali Province in the Kingdom of Laos in 1957 or 1958 while he was in his mid-twenties, he would maintain that base throughout the impending Laotian Civil War. During that war, in April 1963, he would defect from government service to head the pro-communist Patriotic Neutralists movement. At the end of the war, as the Communists succeeded to power through the Provisional Government of National Union, Kham Ouane Boupha was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense on 9 April 1974. He was promoted to become Minister of Defense on 12 May 1975 and served as such for many years, even while he was also Minister of Justice. He retired from cabinet rank in 2006, becoming a Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Directorate of National Coordination or DNC was the airborne-qualified paramilitary Security Agency and élite field force of the Royal Lao Police. Closely modelled after the Royal Thai Police (RTP) Police Aerial Resupply Unit (PARU) commandos and similar in function to the later South Vietnamese National Police Field Force, the DNC was active during the early phase of the Laotian Civil War from 1960 to 1965.

Siho Lanphouthacoul was a Laotian paramilitary police officer. He used his powers as the National Director of Coordination to build Laotian police forces into a national power. Appointed as Director prior to the August 1960 coup by Kong Le, Siho gathered and trained two special battalions of paramilitary police during the latter part of 1960. When his patron, General Phoumi Nosavan, seized power in December 1960, Siho's new battalions helped carry the day at the Battle of Vientiane. Acquiring the National Police from the Ministry of the Interior, and co-opting local military police, Siho consolidated the Lao police into the Directorate of National Coordination. Attaining a strength of 6,500 men, the DNC would be Siho's instrument for his short-lived 18 April 1964 coup.

The 1964 Laotian coups were two attempted coup d'etats against the Royal Lao Government. The 18 April 1964 coup was notable for being committed by the policemen of the Directorate of National Coordination. Although successful, it was overturned five days later by U.S. Ambassador Leonard Unger. In its wake, Neutralist Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma forged a fragile coalition with the Pathet Lao communists. On 4 August 1964, Defense Minister Phoumi Nosavan attempted to take over Vientiane with a training battalion. This coup was quickly crushed by the local Royal Lao Army troops, as the police sat out the conflict.

General Sang Kittirath was a prominent military leader during the Laotian Civil War in the Kingdom of Laos. Between January 1955 and January 1965, he was successively the commander of Military Region 2 and head of the Ground Forces Command. His performance as commander of the losing side at the Battle of Lak Sao in early 1964, plus the loss of support from its political patron Major-General Phoumi Nosavan, led to Sang's resignation from command.

Kou Kiet was a major Laotian Civil War victory for the anti-communist troops of the Kingdom of Laos. Patterned after prior Operation Raindance, it depended upon extensive air strikes blasting communist units and clearing them from the path of the Royalist offensive. Powered by 150 daylight and 50 night sorties daily, with 50 to 80 day strikes directed by Raven Forward Air Controllers, Kou Kiet ran from 6 August to 30 September 1969. It was successful beyond expectations. After the Royal Lao Government troops achieved their objectives, General Vang Pao insisted on pushing forward while they had the initiative. As a result, the Royalists regained control of the entire Plain of Jars while also capturing a huge stock of munitions from the communists. Their triumph came at a cost. However successful the Royalists were, by battle's end their battle-worn forces had exhausted their pool of potential recruits, while the Vietnamese could easily replace their personnel losses.

The Royal Lao Army Airborne was composed of the élite paratrooper battalions of the Royal Lao Army (RLA), the Land Component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces, which operated during the First Indochina War and the Laotian Civil War from 1948 to 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muang Soui</span> Town in Laos

Muang Soui(In Lao: ເມືອງສຸຍ) is a small town in Xiangkhouang Province Laos. It is located on Route 7 of Laos, so east of Phoukhoune district, northwest of Phonsavan, and Ban Phou Pheung Noi, but north of Sam Thong, and Long Tieng.

Campaign 139 was a major military offensive of the People's Army of Vietnam, launched against its Royalist enemies during the Laotian Civil War. Larger than previous invading forces, Campaign 139 was also a combined arms expedition containing tanks, artillery, engineers, and Dac Cong sappers. As such, it was a decided escalation in the war. It was also an exceptional rainy season offensive by PAVN, which usually withdrew during the wet season.

Operation Maharat was a military offensive of the Royal Lao Government aimed at Communist insurrectionists. At stake was the sole road junction in northern Laos well in the rear of Royalist troops fighting in Campaign Z. On 30 December 1971, the garrison of a Royal Lao Army artillery battery and two Forces Armées Neutralistes battalions was besieged by an attacking force of Pathet Lao and Patriotic Neutralists. On 21 January 1972, the Royalists were reinforced by 11th Brigade, then overrun. The Communists spread north and south along Route 13 over a 110 km (68 mi) stretch. A Royalist counter-attack on 16 March 1972 would find both Route 13 and the intersection vacated.

Operation Maharat II was a Royalist offensive against Pathet Lao insurrectionists during the Laotian Civil War. The Royalists planned a two pronged convergence on four Pathet Lao battalions holding the intersection of routes 7 and 13. With neither side particularly avid for combat, the situation was resolved by the Royalist reinforcement of its attack forces until the Communists faced overwhelming odds. The Pathet Lao then decamped. Operation Maharat II ended on 5 February with an artillery fire base supporting an irregular regiment occupying the road intersection. On 22 February 1973, a ceasefire took effect.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.