Seven men have been sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after a firefight erupted between police and suspected armed robbers yesterday in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district.

Police from the Ministry of Interior tried to apprehend the suspects during a raid in Boeung Kak II commune before they opened fire and managed to escape.

The men were eventually arrested, and no one was harmed in the gun battle, according to district police.

The same raids netted four armed robbery suspects in Russey Keo district’s Tuol Sangke commune, though several accomplices are believed to be hiding nearby.

They are suspected of forcibly robbing a 25-year-old Preah Sihanouk woman of her jewellery and motorbike and attempting to shoot her father when he tried to intervene.

The Tuol Kork suspects, aged 18 to 38, have been charged with armed robbery, said In Bora, director of penal crime at the Ministry of Interior.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Sarom at [email protected]