Vietnam expands war‑dead search to Cambodia as effort to locate 3,000 remains intensifies

Vietnam’s central committee launched a six‑month review of its “500‑day night” campaign to locate and identify the remains of war martyrs. In the first half of the year the Ministry of Defence reported that 1,255 bodies had been recovered and that 53,000 DNA samples had been collected, with around 18,000 data points synchronized and 25 individuals identified. The search aims to find roughly 3,000 remains by 2026, supported by a national database and DNA‑analysis technology.

Vietnamese military teams K92 and K93 from An Giang province are conducting field operations in Cambodia’s Kampong Spue, Kampot, Preah Sihanouk and other provinces. They have recovered 61 remains on Cambodian soil and 15 within Vietnam, bringing the total recovered by the two teams to 76, including one identified body. Since 2001 the units have located over 3,500 remains and identified 391 individuals. The missions face challenges such as rugged terrain, aging eyewitnesses and limited historical records, but are bolstered by joint cooperation with Cambodian authorities and local outreach programmes.