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Operation Phiboonpol

Operation Phiboonpol
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date9 – 11 June 1971
Location
Moung Phalane
Result Unsuccessful Royalist attempt to capture the Bolaven Plateau
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Laos
Supported by
 United States
 Thailand
 North Vietnam
Supported by:
 Soviet Union
 People's Republic of China
Units involved
Bataillon Infanterie 20
1 Special Guerrilla Unit
Bataillon Volontaires 43
Bataillon de Parachutistes 104
Thai mercenary company
Royal Lao Air Force
U.S. Air Force
Group 559
Strength
Battalion and regimental-size ~50,000
Three PT-76 tanks
Casualties and losses
Heavy Heavy

Operation Phiboonpol (9–11 June 1971) was a "short but very intense engagement" of the Laotian Civil War. Five Royal Lao Government battalions went on the offensive in Military Region 4 of the Kingdom of Laos to try to regain the Boloven Plateau, which overlooked the vital Ho Chi Minh Trail lying to its east. Stopped in its tracks by the People's Army of Vietnam, with its first use of tanks in southern Laos, the Royalists held firm while close air support inflicted heavy casualties on North Vietnamese attackers. A Thai mercenary company sent as a Royalist relief force was ambushed and wiped out. For weeks after the battle, vultures feasted on unburied corpses.


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