On July 20, 2026, the Steering Committee for the Search, Recovery and Identification of Martyrs’ Remains of Tuyên Quang Province carried out the collection of samples from martyrs’ remains that had been brought to the holding facility of the provincial Military Command’s search and recovery team for DNA testing and digitalisation of records. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Authorities have recovered 1,414 sets of martyrs’ remains both at home and abroad after 125 days of implementing the special '500 day' campaign, according to the National Steering Committee 515.

The committee, which oversees the search, recovery and identification of martyrs’ remains, said that as of July 17, search teams had recovered 390 sets of remains in Việt Nam, 174 in Laos and 850 in Cambodia.

The campaign has also led to the discovery of five collective graves in the northern border province of Tuyên Quang containing an estimated 23 sets of remains, as well as another mass burial site in Lê Thị Riêng Park in HCM City.

During the recovery operations, search teams collected 93 individual remains, 32 personal artefacts and two sets of remains from collective graves.

Efforts to identify fallen soldiers have also been stepped up. Authorities have collected samples from 60,744 graves nationwide, with 42,869 – or 70.57 per cent – meeting the conditions for DNA analysis. The remaining 17,875 graves have yet to satisfy the required criteria.

Meanwhile, 93,464 DNA samples have been obtained from martyrs’ relatives, of which 53,036 have already been analysed and integrated into the national database.

The National Steering Committee 515 said it had received, stored and preserved 15,729 samples of martyrs’ remains from localities across the country. The Military Institute of Forensic Medicine alone has received 10,129 samples from 15 of the country’s 17 provinces and cities involved in the programme and has completed examinations on 124 samples.

Alongside the search and identification work, bomb and mine clearance operations have continued.

To date, authorities have cleared 8,462 hectares out of a planned 22,725 hectares. In the former battlefield of Vị Xuyên in Tuyên Quang Province, nearly 3,567 hectares have been cleared, equivalent to almost 80 per cent of the designated area.

In the coming months, the committee plans to intensify search and recovery operations in areas believed to contain large numbers of martyrs’ graves, particularly sites suspected of housing collective burials.

Authorities will also continue to review historical records and organise verification workshops before launching recovery operations at suspected grave sites.

Localities have been instructed to accelerate DNA sampling from unidentified graves in martyrs’ cemeteries nationwide, while monitoring and directing ongoing search efforts at Lê Thị Riêng Park in HCM City. — VNS