Balloons are released at the Independence Monument during a ceremony marking Cambodia's 69th Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh. - AFP
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodia on Wednesday celebrated the 69th anniversary of its independence from France in an hour-long ceremony held at the Independence Monument here in the capital.
King Norodom Sihamoni, accompanied by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and other government officials, laid a wreath and lit the ceremonial victory fire inside the Independence Monument to symbolise the country's independence.
The ceremony was also attended by foreign diplomats, armed forces, civil servants, citizens and students.
Hun Sen said Nov 9 reminded the people of a noble mission launched by the late Cambodian King Father Norodom Sihanouk to demand independence from France.
"King Norodom Sihanouk, the Father of Independence, had sacrificed both physical and mental energies in his royal crusade to gain full independence for Cambodia," the prime minister wrote on social media.
At the end of the celebration, doves and balloons were released as a sign of independence and freedom.
The South-East Asian nation gained its independence on Nov. 9, 1953, after 90 years of French colonial rule.
