Đắk Sơn massacre

The Đắk Sơn Massacre was a massacre committed by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, in the village of Đắk Sơn, Đắk Lắk Province, South Vietnam.

Prior to the attack, earlier battles had occurred between the Viet Cong and the village defence militias. On 5 December 1967, two battalions of Viet Cong attacked Dak Son village, and after a battle with the defence militia, killed an estimated 252 civilians and kidnapped an estimated 100 civilians in a "vengeance" attack on the hamlet of Đắk Sơn, home to over 2,000 Montagnards.[1]

Troops marched into a village near Dak Son, some of whom used flamethrowers effectively.[2] As the Viet Cong fired their weapons, people were incinerated inside their own homes, and some who had managed to escape into foxholes in their homes died of smoke inhalation. The homes that were not destroyed by flamethrowers were destroyed with grenades, and on the way out patches of the main town were set afire.[3]