Cambodia protests: ‘three dead’ as police open fire
Cambodian military police are reported to have killed at least three people after opening fire to try and quell a protest by factory workers.
Security forces were deployed to break up a protest by thousands of clothing factory workers in the southeast Asian country’s capital Phnom Penh on Friday.
Witnesses said at least three people were killed when the Cambodian police opened fire with assault rifles. Protesters had been refusing to disperse, and threw bottles, stones and petrol bombs outside a factory in the capital.
The clash is an escalation of the political crisis in the capital, in which unions have allied with opposition supporters to call for a rerun of Cambodia’s elections from last July.
The opposition alleges 2.3 million of its votes were stolen to allow the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) to return to office, and alleges that Cambodia’s National Election Committee is one of many agencies under CPP influence.
The government is refusing to raise the wage beyond $100 a month and has ordered factories to reopen to prevent damage and job losses in an industry worth $5bn a year.
Clothing manufacture is Cambodia’s biggest foreign currency owner, and big brands such as Gap, Nike and Puma outsource production to the country.
Two witnesses said they had seen at least three dead bodies, though military police spokesman Kheng Tito said only one protester was killed.
“We are sorry we heard one was killed and some were injured,” he said. “But we were just following our duty, role and tasks. Now, we are securing the situation.”
Friday’s clash follow a similar crackdown on Thursday, in which military police used batons on demonstrators. Twenty people were reported to have been wounded.