Vietnam recovers nearly 1,500 war dead in four-month search

Vietnam has recovered nearly 1,500 sets of soldiers' remains and identified seven mass graves during nationwide search operations over the past four months, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phan Van Giang said on July 25.

Speaking at the launch of a recovery operation in Minh Duc Commune, Dong Nai City, Giang said search teams had made significant progress despite difficult conditions.

At Le Thi Rieng Park in Ho Chi Minh City, authorities have recovered more than 100 sets of remains, uncovered two mass graves and found numerous personal artefacts linked to the soldiers.

Nationwide, more than 73,000 samples have been collected from soldiers' graves, with over 50,000 considered suitable for DNA analysis.

Authorities have also cleared around 8,500 hectares of land contaminated by unexploded ordnance. In the former battlefield of Vi Xuyen in Tuyen Quang Province, more than 3,500 hectares have been cleared, representing more than 80 per cent of the planned area.

Giang said the search remained challenging because landscapes and terrain had changed significantly since the war, while burial records and maps were often incomplete. Many search areas are still contaminated by unexploded ordnance, surviving witnesses are becoming fewer, and decades-old remains have deteriorated, making DNA identification more difficult.

He added that Vietnam's forensic DNA testing capacity has yet to meet growing demand.

In Minh Duc Commune, search teams recovered 22 sets of soldiers' remains and several personal artefacts after expanding excavation work over the past 15 days.

According to the Dong Nai City Military Command, the area witnessed heavy fighting between the main forces of the North Vietnamese-led liberation army and the armed forces of the United States and the former Republic of Vietnam between 1967 and 1975, resulting in heavy casualties among Vietnamese soldiers.