Key Points
- At least 26 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.
Papua New Guinea will give arrest powers to its military amid an eruption of tribal violence in remote highlands that saw at least 26 men killed in an ambush, Prime Minister James Marape has said.
Papua New Guinea's police commissioner David Manning is travelling to the scene of the fighting in Enga province, after shocking images of bodies stacked onto a truck circulated on social media in the Pacific Island nation, the toll from an inter-tribal ambush on Sunday in remote Wapenamanda.
In a statement, Manning said it was a "disgraceful act of cruelty", and the number of dead and injured was still being assessed. An earlier police estimate of 26 was likely to be revised up.
Credit: SBS News
'Very, very angry'
Marape urged highland tribes to find other ways to deal with community disputes instead of killing.
"There is no prize to be engaged in tribal fights ... lay down your arms," he said late on Monday.
"Youths holding guns" would be arrested and face life in prison, he added.
"To lose one life, let alone many lives does not evade our consciousness and our concern. As prime minister, I am deeply moved by this and very, very concerned. I am very, very angry."
A special police unit of up to 200 officers was being formed to deal with "domestic terrorists", and would be trained in Australia, he added.
The Pacific nation is home to hundreds of tribes, speaking 800 languages, and many still live in inhospitable and remote terrain.
Japan on Monday pledged to fund the purchase of dozens of police vehicles for PNG.
"That is very disturbing the news that has come out of Papua New Guinea," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday.
"We're providing considerable support, particularly for training police officers and for security in Papua New Guinea."
In December, Australia pledged $200 million for police training.
