"Soldiers Shoot Man in Kandal Land Conflict", 4 June 2021

Soldiers fired bullets at land protesters … in Kandal province, hitting one man in the shoulder, as a group of about 100 Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldiers faced off against villagers involved in a land conflict in Kandal province, about five kilometres from Phnom Penh. The injured man remains hospitalised, while some local villagers resumed protesting ...

The shooting occurred in Tuol Prich commune, Angk Snuol district, in an area that houses several military bases and outposts and has seen a boom in development in recent years. Villagers reported that the soldiers were from the nearby Thmat Pong military school. Videos of the incident show an excavator digging up land while local villagers try to stop it and block National Road 51. Uniformed soldiers can be seen advancing on the villagers and firing dozens of live rounds from handguns and assault rifles into the air, at the ground, and into the crowd of villagers, hitting one man in the shoulder.

The land conflict involves more than 150 hectares that have been farmed for many years by more than 300 local families from at least seven villages… The Kandal provincial government issued a letter … saying that all of the land was state land, while some villagers have said they have farmed on the land ...

There have been several shootings of land protesters by mixed forces including military soldiers in recent years…

Several protesters captured the improper deployment of soldiers and excessive use of force using smartphones, and videos of the shooting were posted to Facebook.