Key Points
- At least 53 people were killed in PNG’s Highlands region, which has seen escalating tribal violence in recent years.
- Police believe the men were shot dead during an ambush while on their way to attack another tribe.
- Authorities said the massacre could be the largest in the Highlands in recent history.
At least 53 people have been killed in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands in what could be the region’s largest massacre in recent history, according to police.
Papua New Guinea police believe the men were shot dead during an ambush in Enga Province, situated at the Highlands’ northern fringe.
The attack marks a major escalation of tribal fighting in the region.
Graphic footage shared online over the weekend showed men’s bodies being loaded onto the back of a police truck.
It is understood the tribal fight involved the same tribes that killed more than 60 people last year, according to the ABC.
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Superintendent George Kakas said police believe the death count could be as high as 60 to 65.
Officers have so far collected bodies that were scattered across the massacre site, as well as nearby roads and riverside, and are still counting “those who were shot, injured and ran off into the bushes”.
“This is by far the largest [killing] I’ve seen in Enga, maybe in all of Highlands as well, in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“We’re all devastated, we’re all mentally stressed out. It’s really hard to comprehend.”
Acting Superintendent Kakas said one of the tribes, along with their allies and mercenaries, were on their way to attack a neighbouring tribe when they were ambushed.
“These tribesmen have been killed all over the countryside, all over the bush,” he said. “Police and defence forces have had to go in to do their best to quell the situation at their own risk.”
Enga Governor Peter Ipatas described the massacre as “a very, very sad occasion for us in the province” and “a bad thing for the country”.
Ipatas said Enga Province had been trying to curb the spiralling violence in recent years, which has come to involve more than a dozen warring groups and ongoing, tit-for-tat clashes.
The latest escalation, he said, involved 17 tribes.
“It’s a very big fight that’s not normally in Enga province. This is probably the biggest tribal fight we’ve ever had,” he said. “The police and security forces must take ownership and be on the ground, assess the situation and take appropriate action.”
“Because we know who is fighting, it’s not like this is criminal activity that pops up. This is a tribal fight, we know which people are involved.”
