Days of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea leave more than 35 people dead, police say

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Days of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea’s mountainous interior have left more than 35 people dead, a police official said on Tuesday.

Police Assistant Commissioner Joseph Tondon in Enga province said the death toll from the violence blamed on illegal miners was still being assessed.

“There was a fierce battle on Sunday. It’s estimated 35-plus men were killed in action,” Tondon told The Associated Press.

“I’m putting all the figures together. There were some innocent bystanders also murdered,” he added.

A United Nations’ humanitarian adviser for the South Pacific island nation, Mate Bagossy, said as many as 50 people had been killed in days of violence in Enga. He had no estimate for the number of wounded and was checking with local health facilities, which he said were ill-equipped to cope with medical emergencies.

Authorities told aid agencies on Tuesday that up to 300 soldiers and police were moving to the area to restore peace, Bagossy said.

“We are not sure it’s calming. It’s not yet stabilized,” Bagossy said.

Fighting in the Porgera Valley broke out on the outskirts of Porgera town near the New Porgera gold mine, which has halted most of its operations because of the violence until at least Thursday.

Homes and businesses in Suyan village were razed in the fighting, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

A disaster management meeting led by the Papua New Guinea’s National Disaster Center and the U.N. Resident Coordinator Richard Howard on Tuesday agreed to send a team to Porgera within days to assess humanitarian needs, the degree of danger and the area’s accessibility, Bagossy said.

One obstacle for responders delivering aid was that the main road to Porgera remained blocked 40 kilometers (25