Operation Left Jab | |||||||||
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Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Kingdom of Laos |
North Vietnam Pathet Lao Cambodia | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
Special Guerrilla Unit 2 21st Special Operations Squadron | Group 559 |
Operation Left Jab was the first military offensive launched against the Sihanouk Trail extension of the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Second Indochina War. It was the first battalion-sized operation waged by the Royal Lao Army against the communists in Military Region 4. Carried out between 21 and 26 June 1969, the assault interdicted Route 110 of the Sihanouk Trail for its planned three-day stoppage of military supplies. The Royalist guerrillas of Special Guerrilla Unit 2 then evaded an approaching counterattack and regrouped in friendly territory. Operation Left Jab had cleared the way for Operation Diamond Arrow.