The Hmong rebels
On the run in the jungle for more than 30 years, the Hmong have been left to suffer on their own. “They are hunting us like animals,” said Cha Her, a veteran of the CIA’s secret war in Laos.
In the early 1960s, the CIA recruited the Hmong people of Laos to fight the communist forces during the Vietnam War. It was known as "The Secret War."
The Hmong are considered some of the world's best guerilla fighters, and they helped counterattack the communists on America's behalf. In 1975, the United States withdrew from the region, leaving the Hmong behind in communist-controlled territory.
Today, some 5,000 Hmong veterans and their descendants are still hiding in the remote mountainous jungles of Laos. They live on the run, under constant attack from Lao and Vietnamese forces for having sided with the United States. They defend themselves with antiquated guns and those taken from dead enemy soldiers.
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