Operation Fa Ngum

Operation Fa Ngum
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date 1–27 April 1972 Location Laongam, Ban Ngik, and surrounding areas Result Partial victory for Royalist forces Territorial changes Royalist forces take Laongam, temporarily capture but then abandon Ban Ngik
Belligerents
Kingdom of Laos Forces Armee Neutralistes Supported by  United States	North Vietnam
Units involved
Group Mobile 32 Group Mobile 41 Ad-hoc Group Mobile Three FAN battalions	9th Regiment 39th Regiment

Operation Fa Ngum (1–27 April 1972) was a Laotian military offensive aimed at capturing the villages of Ban Ngik and Laongam as bases for incursions onto the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Central Intelligence Agency backers of Royalist guerrillas planned to use a combination of air mobility and route march assaults to clear Route 23 through the two towns. Defensive forces to be defeated were the People's Army of Vietnam 9th and 39th Regiments. At various times and in differing combinations, the Royalists would commit two regiments of guerrillas, a makeshift regiment of the Royal Lao Army, three battalions of Neutralists, and a detachment of armored cars. Fighting a two-phase battle, the Royalists displaced the two PAVN regiments back towards the Vietnamese border. The Royalists both gained and gave up the open air cemetery of Ban Ngik. The PAVN returned westward toward the Thai border as the Royalists fell back. Enfeebled by mutiny and a serious casualty rate, the Royalists ended Operation Fa Ngum with a weak defensive blocking position at Laongam on Route 23.