Operation Phou Phiang III

Operation Phou Phiang III
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date18 January – March 1973
Location
Result Royalist forces fail to dislodge North Vietnamese troops; ceasefire ends the war
Territorial
changes
Status quo maintained
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Laos
Supported by
 United States
 North Vietnam
Units involved
Kingdom of Laos Mobile Group 22
Mobile Group 26
Mobile Group 23
Mobile Group 28
Commando Battalion 616A
Commando Battalion 623
United States Five Boeing CH-47 Chinooks
Air America transport

Operation Phou Phiang III (18 January – March 1973) was the final offensive of the Laotian Civil War by the Royal Lao Army's L'Armée Clandestine. Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored Hmong guerrillas and Thai mercenaries formed three attacking task forces in an attempt to clear the People's Army of Vietnam from positions near the Royalist guerrillas' headquarters on the Plain of Jars. All three columns failed to move the Vietnamese invaders before the ceasefire of 21 February 1973 ended the war.