Page "Hmong people" Paragraph 41

Of those Hmong who did not flee Laos, somewhere between two and three thousand were sent to re-education camps where political prisoners served terms of 3 – 5 years.

Many Hmong died in these camps, after being subjected to hard physical labor and harsh conditions.

Thousands more Hmong people, mainly former soldiers and their families, escaped to remote mountain regions — particularly Phou Bia, the highest ( and thus least accessible ) mountain peak in Laos.

Initially, some Hmong groups staged attacks against Pathet Lao and Vietnamese troops while others remained in hiding to avoid military retaliation and persecution.

Spiritual leader Zong Zoua Her rallied his followers in a guerrilla resistance movement called Chao Fa ( RPA: Cob Fab, Pahawh Hmong: 35px ).

Initial military successes by these small bands led to military counter-attacks by government forces, including aerial bombing and heavy artillery, as well as the use of defoliants and possibly chemical weapons.

These events led to the yellow rain controversy, when the United States accused the Soviet Union of supplying and using chemical weapons in this conflict.