Operation Phoutah

Operation Phoutah
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date 15 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.