Papua New Guinea ambush: Numerous people shot dead in the Highlands

Many people died in a fight between tribes in a far away area of Papua New Guinea, according to the government.

The people were killed in a surprise attack in Enga province last weekend, as said by a police spokesman.

The Highlands area has had a lot of violence for a long time, but people think these killings are the worst in a long time.

More illegal guns have been coming in, making fights more dangerous and causing more violence.

Officials first said that at least 64 people have died. But then, new information came out and they realized they had counted wrong. They changed the number to 26. The media has requested the Papua New Guinea police to confirm something.

The police are gathering up the bodies at the place close to Wabag, which is about 600km away from the capital Port Moresby.

“This is the biggest killing I have ever seen in Enga, and maybe in all of the Highlands as well,” said Acting Superintendent George Kakas of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

We are all very sad and mentally tired. “It’s really difficult to understand. ”

The police got some really disturbing videos and pictures that supposedly came from the crime scene. They showed dead bodies being put onto a truck. This is according to the news.

A fight between different groups in Enga got worse and worse, mainly because of arguments about land and money. This led to a three-month lockdown in July, where the police set a time when people had to stay inside and made rules about traveling.

Last August, the violence was big news around the world when a video showing three dead men started circulating on the internet.

Governor Peter Ipatas told ABC that there were signs that fighting was going to happen before the ambush.

He said that with 17 different tribes fighting, it was the security forces’ job to make sure there was no more fighting.

“From a smaller area, we knew there would be a fight and we told the police last week so they could stop it from happening. ”

Safety is still a big worry for PNG. Last month, the government said there was a big problem after riots and looting caused at least 15 deaths.

Australia, a close friend of the country, said they were very upset about the news of the killings.

“We’re giving a lot of help, especially for training police officers and for security in Papua New Guinea,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a radio interview on Monday.