Tribal violence in Papua New Guinea kills dozens of combatants and bystanders

MELBOURNE —  At least 26 combatants and an unconfirmed number of bystanders were killed in a “gun battle between warring tribes” in Papua New Guinea, police said Monday.

A tribe, their allies and mercenaries were on their way to attack a neighboring tribe when they were ambushed Sunday in Enga province in the South Pacific nation’s remote highlands, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Superintendent George Kakas said. He initially said 53 combatants had died, but security forces revised the death toll.

“These tribesmen have been killed all over the countryside, all over the bush,” Kakas said. Authorities were still counting “those who were shot, injured and ran off into the bushes,” he added.

Police Commissioner David Manning told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that officers were aiming to “regain control or have a significant presence in that conflict area.”

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said he had “great concern” about the violence in Enga.

“Lay down your arms. A lot of disputes will be resolved,” he said. “One killing or two killings doesn’t solve the problem. It contributes towards more problems.”

The villagers who were slain were on their way to avenge the death of a woman killed in an allied village, said John Luther, a leader of Akom village, whose people were among those ambushed.

“We’ve lost a lot of lives. I don’t feel we should be able to retaliate. We’re already weak in numbers,” Luther told the AP. “I don’t think I would allow my people to go fighting again.”

But Oliver Nobetau, a lawyer for the Papua New Guinea government, said he expects more lives will be lost.

“There’s a big concern that this will continue on. Revenge killings tend to be a normal thing that happens,” said Nobetau, who added that police have limited resources to deal with the issue. “Tribal violence is something that happens commonly, but never to this scale.”

Papua New Guinea is a diverse, developing nation of 10 million people and 800 languages in a strategically important part of the South Pacific. Internal security has become an increasing challenge for its government as China, the United States and Australia seek closer security ties.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was ready to assist Papua New Guinea, the country’s nearest neighbor and the largest single recipient of Australian foreign aid.

Tribal violence in the Enga region has intensified since elections in 2022 brought back Marape for another term as prime minister. Allegations of cheating and election process anomalies have often triggered violence in the country.

Enga Gov. Peter Ipatas said there were warnings that tribal fighting was about to erupt.

“From a provincial perspective, we knew this fight was going to be on, and we [alerted] the security forces last week to make sure they took appropriate action to ensure this didn’t occur,” Ipatas told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Ipatas described the violence as a “very, very sad occasion for us in the province, and it’s a bad thing for the country.”

Scores have died in tribal fighting in Enga in the last year.

Port Moresby’s Post-Courier newspaper has reported that high-powered firearms used in recent fighting made it risky for police to enter the battlefields. Police said they were assisted by the military in protecting the general public and government property.