500-day campaign recovers 1,563 martyrs' remains, uncovers nine mass graves

A progress report covering July 24-30 said authorities continued to carry out coordinated operations, including the search and recovery of remains, DNA sampling and identification, as well as unexploded ordnance clearance to support recovery efforts.

To encourage public participation, the National Steering Committee has requested major mobile network operators Viettel, MobiFone and VinaPhone to send text messages nationwide calling on subscribers to provide information on fallen soldiers and burial sites.

Since the campaign began, recovery teams have found 539 sets of remains in Viet Nam, 174 in Laos and 850 in Cambodia. The nine mass graves discovered include five in Tuyen Quang Province and four at Le Thi Rieng Park in Ho Chi Minh City. During the past week alone, forces recovered 81 sets of remains and located two additional mass graves in Ho Chi Minh City.

DNA identification efforts have also accelerated. Authorities have collected samples from 88,889 graves at martyrs' cemeteries nationwide, including 61,887 graves deemed suitable for sampling, representing 69.6% of the total. During the reporting period, samples were collected from 15,073 graves.

The Military Institute of Forensic Medicine is currently storing 16,760 samples received from 16 of the country's 17 provinces and centrally governed cities involved in the programme. The institute has extracted DNA from 146 samples, successfully obtained 31 mitochondrial DNA sequences, and identified two martyrs.

Mine and unexploded ordnance clearance has reached 10,225.9ha, or 45% of the planned area, with clearance in the core area of Vi Xuyen in Tuyen Quang Province reaching 86.9%.

In the coming months, the Ministry of National Defence and the National Steering Committee will accelerate the campaign, expand DNA sampling at unidentified graves, strengthen the verification of records, and prepare personnel and facilities for the transfer of advanced DNA testing technology to speed up the identification of martyrs' remains.