A deadly ambush unfolded in Enga province between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. last night, leaving multiple people dead after a bus was attacked by armed men.

Police confirmed to the Post-Courier that bodies were found both inside the bus and scattered in nearby bushland. Men and women attempting to flee the gunfire were gunned down before they could get far.

Witnesses reported that the bus, a public motor vehicle (PMV), was riddled with bullets during the ambush.

Blood and bodies lay strewn across the area when a distress call alerted police at Surunki station to the tragic scene.

The PMV was later escorted to Wabag General Hospital, where the bodies were removed. Hospital staff have warned that more victims may still arrive.

Local MP Aimos Akem attributed the deaths to escalating violence linked to ongoing conflict in Porgera, saying it continues to take a heavy toll on the people of Lagaip.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding.

More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province.

In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been swept away in flooding.

Wapenamanda community leader Aquila Kunzie told RNZ Pacific his village alone was housing almost 100 displaced women and children from the tribal warfare.

As bad weather hampers food production, the need for aid is critical, Kunzie said.

“The massacre has claimed any lives. As the days go by . . . the government is taking the initiative to call for peace negotiations that are ongoing at the moment,” he said.

“The situation is [that] we are feeling the impact of short supply and food rations in the village.

“We are being neglected due to probably bad politics,” Kunzie said.

Kunzie spoke to RNZ Pacific from Mambisanda village mission station where he said the mighty Timin River was only 15m walking distance.

“Constant continuous rainfall in Wapenamanda district has caused rivers to flood,” Kunzie said, adding “food gardens have been washed away”.

A grade eight student has was reportedly washed away, Kunzie said.

“We couldn’t find him due to the heavy flood. The boy is about 15-years-old,” he said.

Woman mutilated
On top of flooding, The National is reporting a woman has been found dead in Wapenamanda despite a ceasefire being agreed to by warring factions.

“It has also been reported maybe the rascals people must have raped her and wounded her and threw her helpless on the road and she was found in the morning,” Kunzie said.

While the woman was found on the road in another village to where Kunzie is, his village is housing “almost 100” victims of tribal warfare.

But with so many mouths to feed and food crops damaged by heavy rains food rationing is in place.

“Only one meal per day, we can’t afford breakfast and lunch with all of them.”

“We say drink only water and stay and have one meal and go to bed and wait for the next day.”

The bad weather has hampered the growth of food and that is becoming a “very critical issue”, Kunzie said.

He said calls for help have fallen on deaf ears.

“We have no way to call out for help,” he said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A man housing people who fled a massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province yesterday says pregnant mothers and children are displaced.

More than 50 bodies have been retrieved, with police still searching as intertribal tension continues.

Prime Minister James Marape said he was “deeply moved” and “very, very angry” and will give arrest powers to the military to contain the violence.

Aquila Kunza, who lives in Wapenamanda, told RNZ Pacific the situation was “disheartening.

“They are below 10-years-old [the people staying with him],” Kunza said.

“Some of them are pregnant mothers, they fled for their lives. [Those who are] 10-years above, they fight.”

Kunza said boys as young as 10 have been left traumatised from fighting on the battlefield.

Veteran PNG journalist and RNZ Pacific correspondent, Scott Waide, said it “is one of the worst instances of killings” that he has seen in the past decade.

In 2022, there was a massacre on Kiriwina Island, northeast of capital Port Moresby with a death toll of more than 20 — violence that was triggered by a feud after a death at a football match a few weeks earlier.

The incident in Enga province highlands this week has been fuelled by a long standing feud between different clans — Sikin and Kaikin tribes and the Ambulin tribe, according to national public broadcaster NBC.

The clans were aided by guns from the black market, Waide explained.

According to his sources on the ground, the weapons used were not homemade, but rather military grade, including “Israeli-made Galil, US-made M16s”.

“There’s a huge black market attached to this tribal fighting that’s happening,” he said.

“One assault rifle costs upwards of K30,000 [about NZ$13,000]. So it’s a very complex web of people who benefit from this tribal fighting as well.”

‘Businessmen and educated elites supplying guns’
Acting Enga provincial police commander Inspector Patrick Peka has condemned the actions of leaders and “educated elites” from both warring factions for supplying guns and ammunition, and hiring “tribal warlords” and “gunmen” from other districts to come and fight as their incentives are lucrative.

An MP in an electoral district within Enga province, Wapenamanda Open, has called for a state of emergency (in Enga) in an effort to curb lawlessness.

In a statement, Miki Kaeok, who is a Pangu Pati member of Marape’s government, appealed to Enga governor Sir Peter Ipatas and all MPs from the province to rally behind his call.

Kaeok said the tribal fighting had turned into a “guerilla type of warfare” with parties from all parts of the province directly involved.

“Businessmen leaders and educated elites are supplying guns, bullets and financing the engagement of gunmen,” he said.

“They must be identified and their business accounts thoroughly checked to substantiate their direct involvement.”

‘People have given up’
There are 18 or so tribes scattered around mountains and rivers fighting in the highlands.

In a nearby town, Wapenamanda it is almost business as usual, Kunza said.

He said elders had stopped at nothing to try and ease tensions.

“We have tried every means [to stop this]. Churches have taken a collective stand to try stop them. Elders sat the men with guns down and told them to stop and listen. They were told they will be supported and relocated,” he said.

However, their attempts to convince the men did not work, who defied all advice “to our surprise and disappointment”, Kunza said, before violence escalated again.

“People have given up, people are exhausted” from the ongoing tribal fighting.

“Please all men and put down your guns” for the sake of the women and children, he is pleading with the fighters.

Tribal politics
Peka said a lot of the people killed in this violent incident were hired from other parts of the province to kill.

“Most dead bodies identified are men believed to be from Laiagam, Kandep and Wabag plus other parts of the province,” Peka said.

Waide said it was not a secret that people have offered their services as “mercenaries” in tribal fighting.

“It’s a sad situation and unfortunate turn of events and it’s escalating by the year,” Waide said.

He said it was always difficult to understand the reasons behind the ongoing violence without understanding the cultural context and tribal politics.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Islands Forum said it stood ready to support PNG after some of the worst tribal fighting the country has ever seen.

In a statement, Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna expressed his sincerest sympathies to the government and people of the country.

Puna urged all parties involved to seek peaceful resolutions to this conflict.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s opposition has called on Prime Minister James Marape to immediately recall Parliament to address the escalating killings in the upper Highlands provinces.

The opposition also wants the debate to include other law and order issues that have spiralled out of control in other parts of the country.

The call was made by Deputy Opposition leader Douglas Tomuriesa following images of victims lined up along the highway in the Enga Province.

“I strongly urge the Prime Minister to recall Parliament for us leaders to come together as one and discuss the possibility of passing an Emergency Act as allowed for by the Constitution to address this serious issue,” he said.

“These gruesome images of human beings been murdered, stripped naked and lined up next to the highway by their enemies or criminal elements, especially in the upper Highlands provinces of Enga, Hela and Southern Highlands, is becoming a regular activity and the government and elected leaders must not take this lightly, its human lives we are talking about.

“It’s a national emergency and I call on the Prime Minister to immediately recall Parliament for a bipartisan committee to be formed to address this issue,” Tomuriesa said.

He said parliamentarians were elected to lead and address such serious issues affecting citizens and the country as a whole.

‘Killings too frequent’
“We as elected leaders shouldn’t be taking long breaks — these killings are becoming too frequent and we should be addressing them head on during Parliament sessions.

“We just cannot ignore it as fake social media posts,” he said.

Tomuriesa said he was making this call as a concerned citizen, a Papuan leader and deputy opposition leader.

“The spillover effects of what is happening up in the upper Highlands region will be felt everywhere — in Mamose, New Guinea Islands and the Southern Region. So as mandated leaders we must do something.”

Republished from PNG Post-Courier with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz