Reinforcements Sent To PNG As Tribal War Shutters Mine

Port Moresby, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Sep, 2024) Police reinforcements rushed to Papua New Guinea's troubled central highlands on Tuesday in a bid to quell tribal violence that has killed 32 people and shuttered a key gold mine.

Prime Minister James Marape said two mobile police squads would join the already hundred-strong security detachment trying to restore order around the vast Porgera gold mine.

Days of tit-for-tat shootouts between hundreds of tribal warriors have left at least 32 people dead in the mine's vicinity. Hundreds more have been displaced by the violence.

"We have issued strict directives to the police to target and clamp down on those responsible for lawlessness," Marape said.

A state of emergency had already been declared, giving security forces the power to use lethal force to quell the violence.

Alcohol sales have been banned and an overnight curfew introduced.

The Porgera gold mine once accounted for around 10 percent of Papua New Guinea's yearly export earnings.

But flare-ups of tribal violence have frequently slowed production.

"Porgera is vital to our country, especially with the ongoing operations of the mine," Marape said, signalling his resolve to end this latest crisis.

Canadian mining firm Barrick said earlier Tuesday that the mine had been forced to suspend "the majority of its operations until 19 September".

The temporary closure was taken for "the protection of its employees while the government restores law and order in the surrounding region", the firm added.

Most of the mine's 2,000-strong workforce are drawn from the local community.

Police said 30 men were killed across rival clans in recent days, and hundreds of women and children displaced, with many homes burned to the ground.

Two mine officials were also killed while waiting for a lift home after work.

Barrick expressed "deep regret" that "two of its off-duty employees have been killed in the offsite violence, which is not related to the mine and its activities".

Tribal conflicts are a frequent occurrence in Papua New Guinea's highlands.

But in recent years an influx of automatic weapons has made clashes deadlier.

The latest fighting had been turbocharged by the presence of more than "100 high-powered weapons in the wrong hands", police have said.

Security teams have been posted along the highway leading to the mine, using loudhailers to broadcast messages of peace.