Operation Left Jab

Operation Left Jab
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date21–26 June 1969
Location
Southern Laos
Result Disrupted communist logistics into Cambodia
Territorial
changes
Royal Lao forces temporarily cut the Sihanouk Trail
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Laos  North Vietnam
Laos Pathet Lao
Cambodia Cambodia
Units involved
Kingdom of Laos 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.