Troops armed with batons and rifles broke up a protest by striking textile workers near Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

The demonstrators were demanding a doubling of wages amid a nationwide strike by garment industry trade unions.

Witnesses said that around 100 soldiers wearing riot gear and carrying assault rifles used force to clear hundreds of workers protesting outside their factory about 12 miles west of the capital.

"The soldiers beat up everyone," said labour rights activist Chhorn Sokha of the Community Legal Education Centre.

"They had sticks, electric batons, slingshots and stones."

At least 10 protesters were detained and it was not known yet how many had been hurt, she added.

Photographers were beaten with batons while covering the protest and troops were also reported to have beaten up a Buddhist monk.

The clashes marked a violent turn in policing after two weeks of relatively peaceful strikes, marches and demonstrations by many of the hundreds of thousands of factory labourers who work in the important industry.

Cambodian security forces, which have a reputation for zero tolerance of street protests, had exercised relative restraint until turning violant.

The garment workers, whose industry is a major employer and worth £3 billion a year to the economy, have joined protests led by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which claims that it was cheated out of more than two million votes in an election last July.

The CNRP has courted the 350,000 garment factory workers with support for a minimum monthly wage equivalent to £97 - a proposal dismissed by the government as unsustainable.

Protesting workers have blocked roads in Phnom Penh during the strike and the government has reacted sharply to threats to an industry that is the biggest foreign currency earner for Cambodia.

The government raised the minimum monthly wage from £49 to £58 on December 24, but the unions rejected the rise as insufficient and insulting.

Gap, Adidas, Nike and Puma are among big brands that outsource manufacturing of shoes and garments to Cambodian factories, mainly due to the cheaper labour costs than competitor China.