POSSIBLE SOUTH VIETNAMESE AIR ACTION OVER LAOS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01495R000500180018-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 29, 2005
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: January 23, 1974
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Relea*e 2006/01/17 : CIA-RDP80B01495R00Q00180018-2
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
DATE: 23 Jan 74
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
N10/SEA
REMARKS:
The attached is for your infor-
mation. We have checked this
out with OCI and TBL. OCI is
in the process of preparing a
WHSR on the subject.
Bob Layton
Acting NIO/SEA
Approved For Release 2006/01117 : CIA-RDP80BO1495R000500180018-2
 Approved For Release 2006/01/17: CIA-RDP80B01495R000180018-2
23 January 1974
MEMORANDUM FOR: DCI
FROM NIO/SEA
SUBJECT : Possible South Vietnamese Air Action
Over Laos
1. We have received indications of possible South
Vietnamese air action in Laos. The indications are:
(a) Photography of 21 January 1974 which showed at
least 27 bomb craters and two destroyed vehicles
located about 14 kilometers inside Laos adjacent to
the South Vietnamese border (see map). The craters
were not visible in 11 January photography of the
same area. The size of the craters indicate that
500-pound bombs were possibly dropped.
(b) A report from local observers in Laos that an
"American specter-style aircraft" straffed along the
Se Kong and Nam Khong rivers in Laos on 17 and 21
January (see map).
(c) A statement by a spokesman of the Lao People's
Liberation Army on 18 January which condemned the
GVN for sending six aircraft to "bomb and strafe"
an area 14 kilometers inside Laos on 11 January.
2. We have no information concerning exactly what has
transpired in Laos on this matter. The South Vietnamese
have been conducting bombing raids in South Vietnam in areas
adjacent to where the craters were observed, and the distance
involved is such that a simple navigational error could
account for the bomb craters in Laos. The reported straf-
fing along the Laotian rivers, however, is harder to explain.
These areas, located west and southwest of Attopeu, fall
25X1
Approved For Release 2006/01/17 : CIA -RDP80B01495R000500180018-2
 Approved For Release 2006/01/17.CIA-RDP80B01495R00Qp0180018-2
about 60 kilometers from the South Vietnamese-Laotian
border.
3. Although it seems highly unlikely, it is possible that
South Vietnamese aircraft were.not involved in the alleged
strafj~ing. The reference to "specter-style" aircraft would
i n d i ate a gunship of some type, a plane that South Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and the US possess. But it seems
unlikely that the GKR would be flying missions in this
area since it is far removed from where normal Cambodian
operations occur. Similarly, the area is not one where
the Laotians are likely to be conducting operations.
Finally, although there were USAF gunships on training
sorties in Thailand on 17 and 11 January, there is no
evidence that any of them wandered over into Laotian air-
space.
4. Thus, at this time, the presumption is that the South
Vietnamese probably are the perpetrators of the incidents.
But this is only a presumption, we will keep you informed
when further information clarifying the matter is received.
Approved For Release 2006/01/17 : CIA-RDP80BO1495R000500180018-2
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