President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the Army to investigate a weekend clash involving soldiers that left several farmers injured in Kebumen, Central Java.

“As ordered by the president and the Army leadership, an investigative team has been deployed to the clash site,” Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Wiryantoro said on Sunday.

At least 14 farmers from Setrojenar village, Urutsewu district, in Kebumen were wounded by gunfire during a confrontation with soldiers guarding an Army research and development office. Nine of the wounded were treated at a local hospital.

The conflict erupted after residents, who have long protested the Army’s use of the area for weaponry and ballistics training, blocked troops from using the location last week and vandalized a nearby research facility.

Wiryantoro said farmers went to the research facility on Sunday armed with sharp tools and knives, prompting soldiers to retaliate with rubber bullets.

“We have a warehouse there and it must be secured. Moreover, the mass used sharp tools like knives, and a soldier was injured. Our soldiers used rubber bullets to block the attackers,” he said.

A member of the Forum for South Kebumen Farmers (FPPKS) had earlier claimed the villages held legal documents showing them to be the real owners of the disputed land.

Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party, demanded a swift investigation into the case and said: “Anyone found violating the law must be punished.”

Tjahjo Kumolo, secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the military “must publicly explain this matter.” He urged House Commission I, which oversees defense affairs, to immediately summon the head of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).

In 2007, soldiers trying to evict farmers from a plot of land claimed by the Navy shot four villagers dead.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam said the Central Java Police chief had inspected the location and reported that the farmers had only vandalized the gate to the Army’s research and development office.

Indria Fernida, deputy chairwoman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the villagers had vandalized the gate in “an expression of mounting disappointment since their protests have fallen on the Army’s deaf ears for years."