Operation Fa Ngum

Operation Fa Ngum
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date1–27 April 1972
Location
Laongam, Ban Ngik, and surrounding areas
Result Partial victory for Royalist forces
Territorial
changes
Royalist forces take Laongam, temporarily capture but then abandon Ban Ngik
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Laos
Forces Armee Neutralistes
Supported by
 United States
 North Vietnam
Units involved
Group Mobile 32
Group Mobile 41
Ad-hoc Group Mobile
Three FAN battalions
9th Regiment
39th Regiment

Operation Fa Ngum (1–27 April 1972) was a Laotian military offensive aimed at capturing the villages of Ban Ngik and Laongam as bases for incursions onto the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Central Intelligence Agency backers of Royalist guerrillas planned to use a combination of air mobility and route march assaults to clear Route 23 through the two towns. Defensive forces to be defeated were the People's Army of Vietnam 9th and 39th Regiments. At various times and in differing combinations, the Royalists would commit two regiments of guerrillas, a makeshift regiment of the Royal Lao Army, three battalions of Neutralists, and a detachment of armored cars. Fighting a two-phase battle, the Royalists displaced the two PAVN regiments back towards the Vietnamese border. The Royalists both gained and gave up the open air cemetery of Ban Ngik. The PAVN returned westward toward the Thai border as the Royalists fell back. Enfeebled by mutiny and a serious casualty rate, the Royalists ended Operation Fa Ngum with a weak defensive blocking position at Laongam on Route 23.