Ethnic Clash In Papua New Guinea Kills At Least 30 People, Injures Many Others - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2022) At least 30 people were killed and many others injured on Kiriwina island in Papua New Guinea as a result of inter-ethnic clashes, with the fighting likely to escalate further, media reported on Tuesday, citing police.

"Yes received info daytime today (on Monday afternoon) about fighting on the island but police don't have a boat, only dinghies so we secured NSMA (National Maritime Safety Authority) boat but logistics was slow and captain advised that, not safe to travel at night so police team will travel 5.00am (19:00 GMT Monday) at East Cape to Losuia," Provincial Police Commander Peter Barkie was quoted as saying by Papua New Guinea's daily newspaper Post Courier.

A charter flight is being organized to Kiriwina island from Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province, to deploy police forces to bring the situation under control because there were usually only two police officers on the island, the report said.

Clashes like this take place from time to time in Papua New Guinea. In the middle of April, the police detained 19 people in connection with bloody clashes between residents in the Morobe Province, which claimed lives of 12 people and left 100 homes destroyed. A mobile police regiment and six investigators were sent to the area to stop the conflict and bring the perpetrators to justice. Another violent incident happened in early April, when four teenagers were killed and over 20 were injured in a street fight between schoolchildren in the city of Mount Hagen.

Papua New Guinea is considered to be one of the most diverse countries in the world, with a very high level of ethnolinguistic fragmentation among local communities, which fosters inter-ethnic violence.