AFP
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 03:12
At least 53 people have been shot dead in Papua New Guinea in an increasingly escalating tribal conflict. The victims are said to have been on their way to attack a rival tribe when they were ambushed. Authorities warn that the death toll is likely to rise further and call on the tribes to maintain calm.
The massacre took place in the Highlands region, Enga province. Violence between rival tribes has been a problem there for some time, but it has never been as serious as it is now. Last year there was a lockdown in the region for several months due to the fighting. The police have been trying to get a grip on the influx of (automatic) weapons and ammunition in the region for some time.
The current escalation occurred according to the Australian public broadcaster ABC after the September 2022 elections. Last year, violence further flared after a tribe was accused of carrying out a bloody attack on a funeral. In the following months, reprisal attack after reprisal attack followed and at least 17 tribes in the region are now involved in the fighting.
battlefield
“This is by far the biggest massacre I have ever seen in Enga, and perhaps in the whole of the Highlands, in the whole of Papua New Guinea,” the ABC quoted police commissioner George Kakas as saying. “We are all devastated and under great mental pressure. It is difficult to comprehend this.”
The police have now started recovering the many bodies. The police speak of a battlefield with dead people here and there on the road and along the river. There may be more bodies in the woods, as police believe some of those involved fled the scene injured after being ambushed.
The police had known for some time that there had been strong threats of new violence among the tribes in recent days. Security measures had already been taken, but these did not prevent a new outbreak of violence.
2024-02-19 02:12:28
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