| Operation Phou Phiang III | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of LaosSupported by  United States |
 North Vietnam | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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Mobile Group 22 Mobile Group 26 Mobile Group 23 Mobile Group 28 Commando Battalion 616A Commando Battalion 623 Five Boeing CH-47 ChinooksAir 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.