Vang Pao
However, one pro-Phoumi officer was too necessary to the war effort to be purged: Major-General Vang Pao, the leader of the CIA-sponsored Hmong Special Guerrilla Units (SGUs) operating in northeastern Laos. The resulting poor relationship between Kouprasith and Vang Pao was worsened by a murder incident which occurred that autumn. A Hmong SGU guerrilla fighter killed a Royalist regular soldier in a fit of rage and then sought refuge at Vang Pao's villa in Vientiane. When Kouprasith's Royalist soldiers surrounded the villa, Vang Pao strongly objected. The two generals became even more estranged because of this incident until 11 November 1965, when they were finally reconciled by an intermediary.