Cambodian Officer Killed in Drug Raid Shooting in Kampong Thom

A senior Cambodian police officer was shot dead and another seriously wounded during a violent drug raid in Kampong Thom province on Wednesday afternoon, in what authorities have described as a brazen attack by armed traffickers.

The incident occurred at 3:10 p.m. on 23 October in Bek Chan village, Andong Por commune, Taing Kork district. According to police reports, 29-year-old Thorn Dina and an unidentified accomplice opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle as officers moved in to carry out a crackdown operation. Lieutenant Colonel Huon Saway, Deputy Chief of the Kampong Thom Provincial Anti-Drug Bureau, was killed at the scene. His colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Channy, sustained serious injuries.

The suspects fled the scene on a motorbike, heading towards Chamkar Leu district in neighbouring Kampong Cham province. A manhunt is now underway, with security forces mobilised across provincial borders in pursuit of the fugitives.

The killing has sent shockwaves through Cambodia’s law enforcement community. On Thursday, senior officials led by Major General Heng Sophal, Provincial Police Commissioner, and Ms Lim Ieng Cheng, joined by deputy commissioners and district police inspectors, gathered to pay tribute to the fallen officer. Their visit, carried out under the directive of National Police Commissioner-General Sar Thet, underscored the gravity of the loss and the risks faced by officers on the front lines of Cambodia’s intensifying war on drugs.

Lieutenant Colonel Huon Saway is being remembered as a dedicated officer who gave his life in service to the nation. His death highlights the growing dangers posed by increasingly well-armed criminal networks operating in Cambodia’s provinces. The use of military-grade weapons such as AK-47s in drug-related violence marks a worrying escalation in the country’s narcotics crisis.

Authorities have vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice and to continue their crackdown on drug trafficking with renewed determination. As the investigation unfolds, the incident raises urgent questions about the scale of organised crime in rural Cambodia and the resources available to police forces confronting it.

-2025-10-26