The highlands of Papua New Guinea are turning into a bloody warzone as tribes equip hired killers with high-powered weaponry while the outgunned police helplessly watch on.
In an escalation of the bloodshed, at least 49 people were massacred in an ambush of a raiding party on Sunday in PNG’s remote Enga Province.
Confronting images from near the town of Wabag, 600km north-west of PNG’s capital Port Moresby, show the dead being heaped onto the back of a flatbed truck.
Police are yet to finalise the body count but it is the bloodiest incident of tribal violence in the area in recent memory.
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Superintendent George Kakas said the massacre was the ‘largest killing’ seen in the Enga Province.
Police say at least 49 people were killed in an ambush in the remote highlands of PNG as the bloody war between tribes escalates
‘We’re all devastated, we’re all mentally stressed out. It’s really hard to comprehend,’ he said.
‘These tribesmen have been killed all over the countryside, all over the bush.
‘Police and defence forces have had to go in to do their best to quell the situation at their own risk.
‘We started collecting bodies, scattered all over the battlefield, the roads, the riverside… and they were loaded onto police trucks and taken to the hospital.’
Most of the dead were reported to be from the Sikin and Kaikin tribes, which have been involved in long-running deadly feud with the Ambulin tribe.
Tribesmen, many of them hired gunmen from 17 different tribes in the region and neighbouring provinces, let loose with an arsenal of M16s, AR15s, self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns, according to Superintendent Kakas.
Tribes are arming themselves with high-powered firearms causing casualties to mount in PNG
A senior police officer told the ABC that his officers were not ‘superman’, and wouldn’t ‘stand between warring tribes when high-powered firearms are being used’.
Local peace advocate James Komengi said tribal fighting was an ancestral practice but what was new was the carnage from heavy calibre weaponry.
‘The government needs to find out where the high-powered weapons are coming from and where the ammunition supplies are,’ he told the ABC.
‘And they should map out the areas where the guns are and come up with strategies to destroy, reclaim or eliminate these guns.
‘The government should have intervened a long time ago. But they are not doing anything and people are being killed like pigs and dogs.’
He said police were ‘overpowered’ because they weren’t as heavily armed as the factions they were trying to control.
Enga Province has been put into lockdown as authorities try to stem the flow of arms and ammunition in the area.
Tribal fighting can break out for many reasons such as political differences, land disputes or inter-marriage issues.
The current feud is reported to have started when a man’s death was blamed on a tribe from another village.
That tribe then ambushed the man’s funeral, killing five people with bush knives and axes leading to spiralling violence with villages being raided and burnt down.
Last July, the area was locked down for three months to address ongoing tribal conflict.
Authorities described the massacre as the ‘largest killing’ seen in the Enga province
Bodies were seen laid out on a flatbed truck following the brutal massacre in the PNG highlands
PNG locals lamented the bloodshed in posts on social media.
‘We are having a total break down in law and order in our country,’ one wrote on a PNG news Facebook page.
‘It is happening in the Highlands and the coastal provinces.’
People should know that our police personnel cannot solve our law and order situations alone. Now we have already involved our military and CIS personal.’
Local Enga MP Miki Kaeokhas called for a state of emergency to stem the violence in the province.
Mr Kaeok said immediate intervention was needed to end the fighting and police needed the powers to stop the flow of arms into the conflict.
‘Businessmen, leaders and educated elites are supplying guns, bullets and financing the engagement of gunmen,’ he said.
Papua New Guinea sits just north of , with Sunday’s massacre in the Enga Province estimated to be the largest killing in the area in recent times
‘They must be identified and their business accounts thoroughly checked to substantiate their direct involvement.’
Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas accused police of failing to heed warnings.
‘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,’ he said.
‘Unfortunately the security forces were complacent and we have this very, very high number of deaths.
‘The police and security forces must take ownership and be on the ground, assess the situation and take appropriate action.
‘I think they have not been proactive and as a result this fight has been ongoing since last year.’
On Monday n Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said news of the massacre was ‘very disturbing’.
‘We remain available to provide whatever support we can in a practical way, of course, to help our friends in PNG,’ he said.
A PNG police unit of 200 officers will receive training in to deal with the situation.