Alwaght- At least 24 children and women, including a pregnant women, have been killed in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province.

The killings happened on early Monday morning during a raid on Karida, a village of about 800 people in the interior of the country.

Authorities say the region has for years struggled with violence, at times driven by disputes over the distribution of land and resource wealth.

Details are still emerging from the remote central area, but the violence appears to have been a string of attacks and counter-attacks over several days.

Hela provincial administrator William Bando told AFP news agency that 24 people were dead and there could be more.

Local news agency EMTV reported at least two incidents in small villages in the Tari-Pori district.

On Sunday, seven people - four men and three women - were killed in Munima village. Then on Monday, 16 women and children were hacked to death in the village of Karida, EMTV said. Two of the women were pregnant.

According to the Post-Courier newspaper, the attacks took place on Saturday and Sunday with six people killed the first day and 16 - including two pregnant women - in a retaliatory attack the following day.

Pills Pimua Kolo from the Hela province department of health posted pictures on Facebook of what he said was the massacre in Karida village.

The pictures show a row of bodies wrapped in cloth and tied to long poles. He said some of them had been chopped into pieces and their body parts were hard to recognise. </s> Police and soldiers have been sent to Papua New Guinea ’s highlands to make arrests and provide security after more than 20 people, mostly women and children, were slain in recent tribal violence over a feud that has lasted for years, officials said Wednesday.

Tokura said 20 police officers and 10 soldiers were sent to Hela to “stop any further violence and capture the killers.”

Authorities say the slaughter was probably retaliation for an ambush near Peta village on Saturday that left six or seven people dead.

Because two of the victims were pregnant, police put the death toll at 18. Officials differ on whether the attack happened on Sunday or Monday.

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In the latest attack, 16 women and children were killed this week by assailants armed with rifles in the village of Karida in Hela province, said Papua New Guinea Acting Police Commissioner Francis Tokura.

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“This is a tragedy. It is an unbelievable, unthinkable and atrocious criminal act that must be dealt with swiftly and severely,” Tokura said in a statement.

“We will use all available resources to bring the killers to justice,” he added.

Prime Minister James Marape said many of the victims lived in his electorate. “Today is one of the saddest days of my life,” he said on social media.

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Marape blamed a police shortage in Hela for the lawlessness.

“How can a province of 400,000 people function with policing law and order with under 60 policemen …?” he wrote.

“To all who have guns and kill and hide behind the mask of community, learn from what I will do to criminals who killed innocent people, I am not afraid to use strongest measures in law on you,” he said, referring to the death penalty.

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Tribal violence is common in Papua New Guinea’s interior, where villagers avenge relatives in retaliation known as payback.

Hela official Rex Humbi said the latest violence was part of a tribal war that had been waged for more than 15 years.

“The people that got killed were innocent women and children,” he said. “The police do go and investigate. They have the authority, of course, but don’t have the firepower” to bring the killers to justice.

The killers were possessed by Satan and “feed on the soul, or the spirits, of the innocents that have been lost,” Humbi said. </s> At least 20 people, including pregnant women and children, have been killed in an ambush and retaliatory massacre by villagers in Papua New Guinea, according to news reports and a police spokesman in the South Pacific island nation.

The fighting began when six people were set upon and killed while returning from a ceremony Saturday in the country's central highlands, Teddy Augwi, chief police inspector for Hela province, told the Post-Courier, a newspaper in Papua New Guinea.

Relatives of the dead then retaliated, Augwi was quoted as saying.

There were conflicting accounts on the total number of victims, who were from rival communities.

A police spokesman, Dominic Kakas, told the New York Times that 16 women and children, including two pregnant women, were killed in the revenge attack.

Eight children and eight women died in the massacre, Philip Pimua, a community health worker who was in the village of Karida when the slaughter occurred, said in a telephone interview with the Times. Another police spokesman, Thomas Levongo, speaking to Radio New Zealand, gave a slightly lower death toll, saying 10 women and five children had been killed.

It was also unclear when the revenge attack occurred. Augwi said it happened Sunday morning, while Pimua said it was Monday.

Philip Undialu, governor of Hela province, said the attacks had "escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids," according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Police Commissioner Francis Okura called the revenge attack "an unbelievable, unthinkable and atrocious criminal act that must be dealt with swiftly and severely." He added that a military and police team was searching for the killers.

Augwi said the massacre represented a new turn in communal violence.

"This is not a tribal fight where opposing villages face each other on field," he said. "This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide and seek and ambush their enemies."

Violence between the communities has been documented for decades in Papua New Guinea, but it has surged in recent years in the region where the latest attacks occurred, amid tensions over politics and developing gas fields. </s> More than 20 people have been killed in tribal violence in Papua New Guinea, with most of the victims pregnant women and children.

The killings in the highland province of Hela were probably retaliation for an earlier attack that left around seven dead, Governor Philip Undialu said.

He told the ABC that he latest violence was on Monday when 16 people including women and children died at the village of Karida.

'This has escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids,' Undialu said.

The Post-Courier, based in the South Pacific island nation's capital Port Moresby, reported that as many as 24 people have been killed in the villages of Karida and Peta since Saturday.

Six people had been ambushed and killed near Peta on Saturday, Hela Police Chief Inspector Teddy Augwi told the newspaper.

The victims' relatives retaliated with rifles the next day, killing between 16 and 18 people at Karida, including pregnant women, he said.

'This is not a tribal fight where the opposing villagers face each other on field,' Augwi told the newspaper. 'This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide-and-seek and ambush their enemies.'

Many villagers had fled the violence, Hela Administrator William Bando told the newspaper.

It was not immediately clear if any suspects had been arrested. Papua New Guinea Police spokesman Superintendent Dominic Kakas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Tribal violence is common in Papua New Guinea's interior, where villagers avenge relatives in retaliation known as payback.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said those responsible for the fatal attacks could face the death penalty, ABC reported. </s> Children and pregnant women are among those murdered in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea's Highlands area.At least 24 people are confirmed to have died in a brutal flare-up of violence between rival tribes over several days in Hela province

Papua New Guinea (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / Online - 10th July, 2019) Children and pregnant women are among those murdered in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea's Highlands area.At least 24 people are confirmed to have died in a brutal flare-up of violence between rival tribes over several days in Hela province.

Some reports put the death toll higher.PM James Marape called the news "one of the saddest days of my life", promising to track down the perpetrators.It is one of the worst outbreaks of tribal violence in PNG for years."It's a very sad story," Philip Undialu, governor of Hela told news agency Reuters, explaining the killings were part of a conflict running for years."It was retaliation of a previous attack.

Both attacks were made in an innocent community where people were not expecting it and all of us are in a state of shock."Authorities say the region has for years struggled with violence, at times driven by disputes over the distribution of land and resource wealth.Details are still emerging from the remote central area, but the violence appears to have been a string of attacks and counter-attacks over several days.Hela provincial administrator William Bando that 24 people were dead and there could be more.Local news agency EMTV reported at least two incidents in small villages in the Tari-Pori district.On Sunday, seven people - four men and three women - were killed in Munima village.

Then on Monday, 16 women and children were hacked to death in the village of Karida, EMTV said. Two of the women were pregnant.According to the Post-Courier newspaper, the attacks took place on Saturday and Sunday with six people killed the first day and 16 - including two pregnant women - in a retaliatory attack the following day.

Pills Pimua Kolo from the Hela province department of health posted pictures on Facebook of what he said was the massacre in Karida village.The pictures show a row of bodies wrapped in cloth and tied to long poles.

He said some of them had been chopped into pieces and their body parts were hard to recognise.Prime Minister Marape, who is from the area, said the killings were led by gunmen from the Hagui, Okiru and Liwi tribes and said he would seek out punishment for the people responsible."Gun-toting criminals, your time is up," Mr Marape said.How can a province of 400,000 people function with policing law and order with under 60 policemen, and occasional operational military and police that does no more than band aid maintenance," he added.William Bando said he had now called for at least 100 more police to reinforce the existing 40 local officers.Papua New Guinea's highland provinces are very remote.

Communities are still based around tribal traditions and many small villages have never had road connections.In 2018, an earthquake devastated some of the remote regions.Tribal clashes are not unusual with rivalries often prompted by rape or theft, or disputes over tribal boundaries.But while clans have fought each other for decades or centuries, the severity of the violence has shocked Papua New Guinea.Over the past years, the influx of automatic weapons has made clashes more deadly and escalated the cycle of violence.US oil and gas company ExxonMobil operates a natural gas processing plant in the region where the massacre took place but halted construction on a pipeline last year because of unrest.Papua New Guinea is among the poorest countries of Asia with about 40% of the population living on less than $1 a day, according to the UN. </s> More than 20 reportedly killed in Papua New Guinea violence

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — More than 20 people including pregnant women and children have been killed in recent tribal violence in Papua New Guinea, media reported on Wednesday.

The death toll and dates of the violence in the remote highland province of Hela varied in reports by Australian Broadcasting Corp. and the Post-Courier newspaper.

Hela Gov. Philip Undialu told ABC the latest violence was on Monday when 16 people including women and children died at the village of Karida.

The killings were probably retaliation for an earlier attack that left around seven dead, Undialu said.

"This has escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids," Undialu said.

The Post-Courier, based in the South Pacific island nation's capital Port Moresby, reported as many as 24 people were killed in the villages of Karida and Peta since Saturday.

Six people had been ambushed and killed near Peta on Saturday, Hela Police Chief Inspector Teddy Augwi told the newspaper.

The victims' relatives retaliated with rifles the next day, killing between 16 and 18 people at Karida, including pregnant women, he said.

"This is not a tribal fight where the opposing villagers face each other on field," Augwi told the newspaper. "This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide-and-seek and ambush their enemies."

Many villagers had fled the violence, Hela Administrator William Bando told the newspaper.

It was not immediately clear if any suspects had been arrested. Papua New Guinea Police spokesman Superintendent Dominic Kakas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Tribal violence is common in Papua New Guinea's interior, where villagers avenge relatives in retaliation known as payback.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said those responsible for the fatal attacks could face the death penalty, ABC reported.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. </s> Sixteen women and children were killed in the remote town of Tari in Hela Province, Papua New Guinea in an attack described by police as “barbaric and inhumane.”

Two of the women killed were pregnant.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Pills Pimua Kolo, a worker from the province’s Department of Health said the attack took place on Monday morning around 6 a.m. local time. The bodies were chopped into pieces and were hard to recognize, he said.

The post included photos that showed bodies wrapped in blue bags as they were prepared for transport out of the village.

In a statement to CNN on Wednesday, acting Police Commissioner Francis Tokura condemned the killings, saying that it was a “tragedy” and an “unbelievable, unthinkable and atrocious criminal act that must be dealt with swiftly and severely.”

Tokura added that the police will use “all available resources to bring the killers to justice,” and that the Hela Provincial police commander ordered a team of 30 men, comprising of soldiers from the PNG Defense Force and local police “to stop any further violence and capture the killers.”

The statement also said that there would be a security assessment in the region to determine if additional manpower would be needed. It also promised a “long-term approach to address the issue in Hela.”

Hela Province’s Governor Philip Undialu said the motive behind the killings was unknown but that he believed it was possible it was in retaliation for a previous incident, ABC news reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape posted on Facebook condemning the violence, saying that it was “one of the saddest days of my life.”

Marape added that the province of up to 400,000 people could not have proper law and order with only 60 policemen and the occasional military patrol in the area. He said he had repeatedly requested “more permanent police” to monitor the area — which houses liquefied natural gas and the power transmission line for the Porgera Gold Mine — over the last five years.

In a somber message, Marape vowed to track down the perpetrators.

“In memory of the innocent who continue to die at the hands of gun toting criminals, your time is up,” Marape said.

“To all who have guns and kill and hide behind the mask of community, learn from what I will do to criminals who killed innocent people…I am coming for you.” </s> Pregnant women among victims of killings in small village of Karida, in an area beset by internecine violence

At least 15 women and children have been killed in a massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province, in one of the worst outbreaks of tribal violence in the country for years.

The killings happened on early Monday morning during a raid on Karida, a village of about 800 people in the interior of the country.

Philip Pimua, the officer in charge of the Karida sub-health centre, who was in the village at the time of the attack, told the Guardian that there were 16 victims – eight children aged from one to 15 and eight women, two of whom were pregnant.

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RNZ reports that there were 15 victims – 10 women and five children – citing Tari police spokesman Thomas Levongo who examined the scene at Karida. Levongo could not be reached for comment.

Pimua said the attack happened at about 6am on Monday morning, with people killed after opening the door to attackers.

“I wake up in the morning, go to make a fire in my kitchen, at the same time I heard the sound of guns, then I saw some of the houses they were burning, so I knew that enemies are already inside the village,” Pimua said. “So I just ran away and hide in the bush, then later on, about 9 or 10, I came back and saw bodies chopped into pieces and houses were burnt.”

As well as guns, bush knives were used in the attack.

Pimua said he knew all the victims – “they are my people, I know them” – but that some were so badly dismembered that he and other villagers struggled to identify the remains.

“They were cut into pieces. Some had body parts we couldn’t recognise which one is which one, only the faces we can recognise, but legs, hands…”

Pimua said he and other villagers had wrapped the bodies in mosquito nets, and then fled the village, fearing that the attackers were still hiding in the bush and might strike again. He said they hoped to return to bury the bodies on Wednesday, but were waiting for police to come and escort them.

Pimua said the attack was from “enemies” and may have been connected to tribal violence, saying “they have fought for a long time there”.

Hela province and other areas in the highlands of Papua New Guinea have been beset by tribal violence in recent years. There have been reports of killings, reprisals and sexual violence, all made worse with the increasing availability of firearms.

PNG police told the Post Courier the attack followed an ambush attack on Saturday, which left six people dead.

Asked if this was the worst attack his village had ever seen, Pimua said: “It’s the worst, very worst, in the history of this country too.”

The attack occurred in the electorate of Papua New Guinea’s new prime minister, James Marape, who described the day as “one of the saddest” of his life.

In a Facebook post, Marape said the attack was led by gunmen from the Haguai, Okiru and Liwi tribes and said he would seek out and punish the perpetrators, using the “strongest measures in law”.

“In memory of the innocent who continue to die at the hands of gun-toting criminals, your time is up, before I had someone else to report to, now I have no one else to report to but the innocent you kill,” he wrote.

“To all who have guns and kill and hide behind the mask of community, learn from what I will do to criminals who killed innocent people … I am coming for you.”

Marape also blamed insufficient police resources in the region, saying he had been asking for more permanent police to be stationed in the area since 2012, but had not had any support.

“How can a province of 400,000 people function with policing law and order with under 60 policemen?” Marape wrote.

Pimua was doubtful about the likelihood that those responsible for the attack would be caught. “If prime minister use special forces from some other countries to come and find these people then he can do it, OK, but for our security forces, I don’t think so,” he said.

The ICRC Papua New Guinea head of mission, Ahmad Hallak, said: “We are very concerned by reports that women and children have been killed and urge all sides to refrain from targeting anyone who is not directly engaged in the fighting.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and are in touch with our contacts in the area. Once we can confirm the situation has stabilised, an ICRC team will visit the area to assess the humanitarian consequences of the fighting before deciding on a possible response.”

Additional reporting by Melvin Levongo </s> Hela [Papua New Guinea], July 10 (ANI): At least 16 women and children have died in a tribal massacre here, according to Hela Governor Philip Undialu.

The killing took place in Karida here on Monday, according to Sputnik. The reason behind the massacre is unknown.

The Governor described the incident as a "rare outbreak of tribal violence in the Highlands region" while speaking to American broadcaster ABC.

"We've never heard of tribal fights happening in this area, it was a spillover of fighting happening in another area that no-one expected," Undialu said.

The police are yet to confirm the killings as they are awaiting information from a local commander, as per a local police spokesman. (ANI)
Assailants raid a village in Papua New Guinea's Hela province, killing and dismembering 16 women and children, and burning buildings.