Tribal clashes leave 19 dead on Papua New Guinea
Tribal clashes on Papua New Guinea’s highlands have gone at least 19 persons dead, including seven who were killed by a grenade, authorities said Monday.
Officials said the deaths occurred around Kainantu, found in Eastern Highlands province, amid a good months-long dispute over property possession between rival tribes.
Michael Welly, the provincial law enforcement commander, told native media that several clans were found in Kainantu to sign a good peace agreement Thursday whenever a fight between several women spiralled right into a “full-blown out battle” that killed 12 people young and old.
Seven others died when a hand grenade was detonated the next day, ahead of homes were burned to the bottom in retaliation, the Post Courier reported.
Welly said the warring tribes had temporarily ceased fighting following the deployment of specialist law enforcement forces from other provinces.
“We will be hoping they lay down their arms or perhaps surrender them but that'll be a long time returning,” he told AFP.
David Manning, Papua New Guinea’s police commissioner, said those involved would be “handled” but admitted more would have to be finished to address the problem of illegal guns.
“(The) first thing we've done is normally to enforce the guideline of law so we (can) make sure Kainantu is clear of criminal activities and from these warring factions,” he informed AFP.
Tribal conflicts are a consistent occurrence in Papua New Guinea’s highlands, but an influx of computerized weapons has built clashes more deadly and escalated the cycle of violence.
In 2019, at least 24 people including two women that are pregnant and their unborn children were killed in Hela province when highland clans clashed apparently over control of native gold deposits in the region’s mineral-rich soil.
