286. Editorial Note
On November 5, the U.N. Subcommittee in Laos examining the fighting in the north made its report public. The summary section of the report was based on Lao Government documents and witnesses. The report concluded that, since July 16, military action against Lao Government posts and units in Sam Neua and Phong Saly Provinces had increased, culminating in the heaviest fighting between August 30 and September 15. After September 15, the subcommittee stated that the conflict regressed. While military action was of different scope and magnitude throughout the entire period, the subcommittee characterized it as a guerrilla war, but with a centralized coordination. Almost all the witnesses interviewed by the subcommittee stated that the Democratic Republic of Vietnam supported the dissident elements, composed of disaffected Pathet Lao and sections of frontier minority people. The subcommittee stated that the “opposing side” offered it no information or witnesses. (Report of the Sub-Committee Under Resolution of 7 September 1959, U.N. doc. S/4236)