The Secret War in Tibet

By Jim Danisch

In the process of editing my friend Tshewang Lama’s new expanded edition of “Kailash
Mandala”, I was intrigued with his brief history of the Tibetan Resistance, funded by the
C.I.A. in Mustang, Nepal. It inspired me to research the web, from which the following
information was extracted. A very thorough account is given in Kenneth Conboy and
James Morrison’s “The C.I.A.’s Secret War in Tibet”, and in Mikel Dunham’s “Buddha’s
Warriors”.

The only country to offer anything to Tibet after the Chinese invasion in 1949 was the
U.S., through the C.I.A. Resistance fighters recruited from the Khampa people – Tibet’s
warriors from the East -- were trained in Colorado, among other places. There were
parachute drops in the middle of the night into Mustang, flown by the C.I.A.’s Aviation
Research Centre in India and Air America, secret missions, suicide pills and overriding
politics. Many resistance fighters were tortured and killed. Although the Khampas were
supposed to disrupt Chinese activities across the border, they seem to have had little
serious effect. The U.S. government funded the action as a minor annoyance to China,
and stopped support when Nixon began the rapprochement with China around 1970.

From 1960 to 1964 around 4,000 to 6,000 Khampa Resistance Fighters were in
Mustang, including 2,100 Khampas in 12 camps, 800 with firearms, 300 C.I.A.-trained.
C.I.A. supported them for twelve years at about US$ 2 million per year from 1960 to
1972, when funding stopped. The C.I.A. provided M-1 rifles, Springfield rifles, 2 inch
mortars, 80mm recoilless rifles, 55mm recoilless rifles, and khaki uniforms. They were
led by Baba Yeshi, a powerful Mustangi clan chief, who was replaced in 1969 by C.I.A.-
trained General Gyatso Wangdu.

To feed the remote Special Frontier Forces outposts along the border, the C.I.A. had
the Kellogg Company develop a special tsampa (Tibetan staple, roasted barley
porridge) that was fortified with vitamins and other nutrients. It could easily be air-
dropped from Air America planes.

In 1974, the Nepali Army, under pressure from the Chinese, decided to clear the
resistance out of Mustang. When General Wangdu, the chief of the Khampa rebels,
had to flee with a contingent of 80 men, they headed for the Tibetan Plateau with horses
and pack mules. After moving to the south side of Taklakot, they were attacked by
Chinese soldiers and village militias. They escaped from Tibet back into Nepal, but
when they arrived at Tingkar pass in Darchula, the Nepali army was waiting for them. In
the fighting that followed, Wangdu was killed. But most of his men managed to escape
to India via Kalapani, on the Indo-Nepal border.

Some of the other Khampas were resettled in Nepal, but probably most of them filtered
back to their old homelands, or died in the resistance.

On July 6, 1974, U.S. Ambassador Cargo in Kathmandu sent a telegram to the

Secretary of State, regarding the news that the Nepal Army was clearing out Mustang,
ending the secret war (GON = Government of Nepal, USG = US Government):

“…BY LISTENING BUT NOT PROBING WE HOPE TO AVOID THE APPEARANCE OF

HAVING A SPECIAL INTEREST IN A MATTER THAT MIGHT IMPLY INVOLVEMENT
OR UNDUE CONCERN. SHOULD THE SITUATION DEVELOP TO THE POINT THAT
RESPONSE IS REQUIRED TO ACCUSATIONS OF USG INVOLVEMENT WITH
KHAMPAS IN NEPAL. I WOULD HOPE THAT WE COULD STATE THAT THIS
MISSION IS NOT, NOR HAS IT EVER IN THE PAST, BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE
KHAMPAS OF MUSTANG. PRIVATELY, IF PRESSED FOR COMMENT BY GON
OFFICIALS, I BELIEVE WE CAN FURTHER DEFUSE THE ISSUE OF THIS
MISSION'S ROLE BY STATEMENTS OF SYMPATHY AND SUPPORT FOR GON
EFFORTS TO EFFECT LEGITIMATE CONTROL OVER A POTENTIALLY
TROUBLESOME ELEMENT OF THE REFUGEE POPULATION. IF THERE ARE
SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS OF FORMER CIA INVOLVEMENT WITH THE KHAMPAS,
THIS MISSION SHOULD DECLINE ANY COMMENT. IF COMMENT SHOULD BE
NEEDED, WE SUGGEST THIS BE MADE BY APPROPRIATE DEPARTMENT
SPOKESMAN. IN DEVELOPING DEPARTMENT GUIDANCE, WE SHOULD
CONSIDER MAKING THE POINT TO THE EXTENT THE USG HAS EVER BEEN IN A
POSITION TO INFLUENCE THE TIBETAN LEADERSHIP, OUR LONGTIME ADVICE
AND EFFORTS HAVE BEEN TO ASSIST ENSURE THAT TIBETAN REFUGEES
HONOR THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THE LAWS OF HOST GOVERNMENTS IN
WHOSE COUNTRIES THEY ARE GENEROUSLY AFFORDED REFUGE AND THAT
THEY ENGAGE ONLY IN PEACEFUL AND NON-MILITARY OCCUPATIONS…”