Free-fire Zones in The Vietnam War
Initially, the free-fire zone was an area near an airbase which was cleared of civilians to allow aircraft bomb disposal prior to landing.
Returning veterans, affected civilians and others have said that U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam MACV, based on the assumption that all friendly forces had been cleared from the area, established a policy designating "free-fire zones" as areas in which:
- Anyone unidentified is considered an enemy combatant
- Soldiers were to shoot anyone moving around after curfew, without first making sure that they were hostile.
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