Operation Phoutah

Operation Phoutah
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date15 May – late September 1971
Location
Moung Phalane
Result Unsuccessful Royalist attempt to capture Muong Phalane
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Laos
Supported by
 United States
 North Vietnam
Supported by:
 Soviet Union
 People's Republic of China
Units involved
Groupement Mobile 33
Groupement Mobile 30
Bataillon Guerrier 301
Bataillon Guerrier 302
Bataillon Guerrier 303
Bataillon Guerrier 306
Bataillon Guerrier 314
Group 559
Strength
Battalion and regimental-size ~50,000
Casualties and losses
Heavy Unknown

Operation Phoutah (15 May – late September 1971) was one of a series of offensive operations aimed at the vital Ho Chi Minh trail complex during the Second Indochina War. Staged by a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored Royalist Laotian irregular regiment, Operation Phoutah was a defensive strike against an oncoming offensive from the 50,000 North Vietnamese troops safeguarding the major transshipment point centered on Tchepone, Laos. The Royalist objective was the capture and occupation of Moung Phalane, which was needed to continue staging guerrilla raids on the Trail. In this, Operation Phoutah failed.