Vietnamese military officers and Laos' Oudomxay provincial officials at the ceremony repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts. — VNA/VNS Photo Đỗ Bá Thành

VIENTIANE — A ceremony was held in Oudomxay Province (Laos) on Tuesday to handover and repatriate remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives during the wartime in the six northern localities of Laos.

Speaking at the ceremony, Major General Sivon Sayavong, director of the Oudomxay provincial police department, stressed the special solidarity between the two Parties and States, as well as the sacrifice by Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts to international missions, saying they have greatly contributed to the Lao struggle for national liberation.

He thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for their support to Laos during the past struggle as well as the present cause of national defence, construction and development, and expressed his belief that the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties and States will be further tightened in the time ahead.

A team of Việt Nam's Military Region 2 was established in June 1994 and tasked with searching and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in the six northern Lao localities of Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Bokeo, Luang Prabang, Phongsaly, and Xayaboury, according to Major General Nguyễn Hồng Thái, head of the region’s steering committee for the search, collection and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains (Steering Committee 515).

It has collected and brought home remains of 1,836 of such people, and handed them over to 25 Vietnamese cities and provinces, he said.

A memorial and burial service for the 12 martyrs is slated for June 19 at a cemetery in the northern border province of Điện Biên. — VNA/VNS