A catapult designed for killing small game is being used to fire missiles at Western

men in Phnom Penh.

Eight attacks have been reported. One man is understood to have been helicoptered

to Bangkok with eye damage.

The attacks have been at night in the past month, mainly on pedestrians around the

Sisowath Quay area.

Kevin Currie, a New Zealand legal volunteer and former policeman, was attacked near

the Norodom-Sihanouk junction about 10:40 pm on February 18. He was hit in the nose

by a small rock fired by a man from the driver's seat of a light-colored double-cab

utility, using a Y-shaped catapult. Currie's partner saw the man lean across from

the driver's seat and aim the weapon out the passenger side window.

They described the man as Khmer, 35-to-50 years old, bald on top, and wearing spectacles.

"He looked respectable, like a businessman," Currie said.

The vehicle and weapon description tallies with that of another victim, Charlie Spohn,

hit in the chest the previous night.

Police say additional officers have been assigned to the area.