Popular supporter shot by these soldiers? (8)
I believe the answer is:
infantry
'these soldiers?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'popular supporter shot by' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'supporter' becomes 'fan' (fan is a kind of supporter).
'shot' becomes 'try' (both can mean an attempt).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'in'+'fan'+'try'='INFANTRY'
(Other definitions for infantry that I've seen before include "Foot-soldiers" , "fighting group" , "part of the army" , "Men fighting" , "Grunts" .)