Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Association offormer volunteer soldiers of Front 479 held a ceremony in Hanoi on September 22 to mark30 years of the fulfillment of their international mission in Cambodia.

On the occasion, theassociation presented gifts to heroic Vietnamese mothers, families of invalidsand martyrs, and Cambodian students in Vietnam.

Speaking at the event, Chairman ofthe association Le Cuong said in response to urgent appeal by the CambodianUnited Front for National Salvation and people, Vietnamese voluntary soldiersand Cambodian armed forces overthrew the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary genocidal regime onJanuary 7, 1979.

From 1979 to 1985, both sideslaunched raids against Khmer Rouge remnant bases in border and inland areas.

During the 1984 – 1985 dry season,an unprecedentedly large campaign was launched, which won a decisive victoryand put an end to the Khmer Rouge regime.

Since the late 1985, reactionaryforces have been basically no longer a threat to the Cambodian revolutionaryadministration.

On September 26, 1989, allVietnamese voluntary soldiers and military experts returned home.

Founded on April 14, 1979, Front479 was assigned with the task of helping Cambodians with medical treatment andproduction, armed forces building from the central to local levels, and fightingto eradicate the threat of the revival of the genocidal regime.

During a decade of working inCambodia, the Front and the host armed forces waged over 16,000 attacks,putting about 100,000 enemies out of action, and seizing over 43,000 guns and462 tonnes of munitions and military equipment./.