A Rain of Terror in Asia

The U.S. documents its charges of Soviet chemical warfare

Midmorning on Oct. 10, 1980, a plane flew low over the foothills of the Khao Khouy Mountains in southern Laos. As it passed above the village of Long Sa, the craft began trailing plumes of reddish-yellow gas. Villagers enveloped in the falling mist felt dustlike particles landing on their skin. The air smelled of burning peppers. Ma Hear, who saw the mist fall on the village from a protected lean-to on a nearby hill, recalled that within minutes many of Long Sa's 1,000 residents fell...

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