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SC No. 07434/68 !“I. ',u."

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' ·!OVh-‘u— CENTRAL INTELLIGI!NCEINTELLIGENCE AGENCY I Directorate of Intelligenc~Intelligence

5 February 1968 - j -'.4.-.-o.o

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. INTELI.,IGENCEINTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM ’ _ . — 1 I·urn—fund”. } I I '[Iu'heTho gittzationSituation in South No. 36“16 ammM~ ---rAs(As of 12:12:30 30 PP;Mi§Ilw“ J!_'--J;;_S,X)_ - ....--·

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. i .. n ThoThe Viet Cong appear to be maintaining strong can-ha pressut'opressure against gove1·nrncngovernment t si::3cui~isecurity ty in.stainstallations lla tions in the Saigon area, notwithstanding the initiation of a massive allied clearing operation throughout 1: the entire city. There have beenboon no further indica­indica— tions of an imminent ll'lrge-scalelarge—scale Communist offensive against the capital.

" , HoavyHeavy fightin~fighting contin\lescontinues for the sixth consecu­consecu_ tive day in Hue, while to the north, US forces have 2 reported three major contacts with battAlion-battalion— { sizosize Communist forces near Quang Tri City. El~ewher~Bleewhere , -+ in I Cotps,Corps, thothe military situation remains relatively - quiescent. No further sig11ifsignificant !cant North Vietnamese initiatives have been reported against the US combat base at Khe Sanh.

.InIn central Vietnam, alliodallied forces appear to have stabilized the security sjtuationsituation in th~the troubled provincialpr0-vincial capital8capitals orof Kontum, Pleiku, and Ban Me Thuot,Thnot, although thothe cities of TuyToy Hon and -, Dalat are continuing to experience significant enemy r pressure.p1~essui·e. WhlleWhile the eleven provinces of III Corps remain genoraliygenerally quiet, Viet Cong forces in the delta con­con- . tinue toto-pose pose a major threat to ~a number of i1nportan.timportant . populalationpppnl.alation conterEscenters and goVC!l'n:itentgovernment military ittstnlla­installa- . tions.tione.

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'l'heEheASaigonugroa Saigon Area

1. _.There,There are unconfirmed press reports that an estima"teclestimated 400 Communist attnckorsattackers enrlyearly toe.laytoday .overran a police substation in Saigon and drove police out ofof‘a a nearby precinct headquarters which they had set ablaze. The Saigon police reportedly ' nbandonodabandoned their 8th Pr~cinbtPrecinbt ileadquart~rsHeadquarters in the southern (Cholon) sector of the capital and with­with- drew northwn;·dnorthward towa~·utoward t~ethe center of the city.

2. Official reporting from thothe field has con­con- firmed additional smnli-scalesmall-scale Viet Cong harassing attacks against Saigon municipal pol'icepolice units and installations in the central residential area's 3rd Precinct ahdand in the 6th and 7th Precincts in CholonCholon. • ., .. . 3,3. ‘VietViet Cong elements thus !ariar contacted in the Saigon nttacksattacks have beenbe6n described as wearing a - tarictyvariety of outfits, ranging from Buddhist robes and civilian attire to ARVN, Regional Force, ChieuChico Hoi,Roi, and jungle'greenjtt!~glo· green uniforms. - 44., .. Meanwhile,Meanwhile,_an an 18-battalion18~battalion ARVN task f6rce,force, support~d‘supported by National Police units, has begun a massive houso-to-housohouse—to-houso search of thothe entire capitalCapital city. US troopstrOOps have been deployed around the.the_. perimeterperimele~ of.Saigonof Saigon to screen thothe ARVN securitjsecurity sweep ~i~hi~-thewithin the city proper.

5~5. There was reported to be an abundant supply of riccirice nndand bread iriin thothe shops of Saigon and Cholon as of 4 February. Some merchants, however, are ap­ap~ parently_notparently .not selling their rice, probably in t~ethe expectation that prices will continue to soar~soar. It 1sis estimated that the Saig()nSaigon populacepopulaco cacan 11 endure to the 9th ~ror 11th of February without an inflow of food,food.

II_Corps Corps

. G.6. Action here continues tato be centered in the northern provinces. US forces reported three major contacts--eachcontacts—-each with an e11e111.yenemy battalionw-nearbatt:alion--near Quang TL'iTri on 5 Feb1.•mu·y.February. It appe-a1•sappears the ComnnmistsCommunists were rout~drouted.in in two of the contacts>contacts, north nndand cast oroi the

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city. No results nreare available on thothe third. US observers repc.>1.'treport morale in QuaQuang 11g ·T1·i.Tri is poor. Prom­Prom» inent Vietnam~seVietnamese oi'ficials,officials, including the province ~hief,chief, are apparently moving their families out of the city.

'7.7. Elsewhere, the~ethere have-been no m8jormajor changes reported since the 7:00 A.M. Sitrep. Unconfirmed press reports indicate US MarineNarine progress in Hue on 5 February contini.wdcontinued to be slow in bitter stree_tstreet fighting against determined CmnmunistCommunist forces.

II11 Corps

8. In the western highlnnds,highlands, allied reaction ·'forces forces continue to pressp~ess sweeping operations against ~nemyenemy concentrations near the provincial capitals of Kon.tum,Kontum, PlcikuPleiku aand rtd Ban McMe Thuot. No major cle­new velopments have been reported since the 7:00 A.M. Sitrep. Along thathe coast, TuyToy lloaHoa was again attacked . by about a battalion of Viet Cong during the day ·of-of 5 February according to press reports. The . 11101.mtninmountain resort city of Dalat is a.lsoalso said to be under renewed enemy pressure. lll_9orpaIII ~orp,s 9. American observers in the area report no new outbreaks of Communist Fictivityactivity nsas of the early evening of 5 Febru~ry.February. Enemy :forcesforces still pose a threat to somGsome J)rovincic\provincial 1 capitals includi11gincluding An LoeLee andnncl Phu Cuong.

IV Col"PSCorps

10,10.- ThoThe Viet Cong offensive seems to have abated somewhat during 5 February in the Delta prov­prov— inces. Howcvet',However, substantial Communist forces remain in thothe immediate vicinity of s01nesome administrative and 1—.— populationpopulntion centers and US observers on the scene ex­ex— -. pect renewed ~ttacksattacks ntat My Tho,The, Tra audand RachEach Gia.·Gia.' Last night, an enemy battalion attnclwdattacked Go Cong and VCV0 gu1111ersgunners shelled in.stallntionsinstallations near Can Tho.The. Both areas were quiet by daybroak,daybreak. Elsewhere, there wnswas sporadic sniper fire in several cities and scat­scat- tered resistance around thothe outskirts.·outskirts. -Although Although much 2. of the city hnshas been rnvnged,ravaged, Vinh Long nownew appearsto be firmly in :friendlyfriendly hands.

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11. Although thevhe Co~nunislCommunist ap­apw -peerspears to have lost Ra measure of its countrywide momentum,snbstantiaJmomentum,substantia] ener.1yenemy forces s1i.llstill tiu·cat.e.ithreaten population cont€•rscenters and alli

12. Should the C1,.mraunistsCommunists elect to initiatoinitiate a

fresh round of majormajor attncksetfaeks,1 these aroare likely to be focused on the areas 1aen1men1ioned ioned above,above.

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