Papua New Guinea: Gang Kills at Least 26 in Village Ambush

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Facts

• Papua New Guinea (PNG) police reported on Thursday that a gang killed at least 26 people, including 16 children, across the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Angrumara in East Sepik’s Angoram district last week.¹
• According to UN human rights chief Volker Türk, the attack, which left some people beheaded and others fleeing as their homes were burned, was 'seemingly...the result of a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights.'²
• Provincial Gov. Allan Bird said there are only 20 police officers for the province of 100K people, while local police have reportedly already identified over 30 men who were involved in the attack, which also included sexual violence.³
• Türk said that as local authorities continue searching for missing people, the death toll could rise to more than 50, adding that survivors are afraid to name the attackers.²
• According to UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence, conflicts between 17 tribes have also worsened since 2022 over land disputes, with an almost doubling of population since 1980 increasing tensions.⁴

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²Abc, ³BBC News and ⁴WION.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Firstpost. PNG has a rich history of cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity, but recent population growth and an influx of modern weapons have threatened to destabilize the nation. Both domestic and international investigations should be conducted in pursuit of establishing peaceful cohabitation and resource sharing among regions and tribes.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Global Times. The reason PNG has security issues is because former colonial powers left the island with weak political institutions. The irony of the West, after having taken over the island before leaving it to fend for itself, has not gone unnoticed. China, on the other hand, is seeking meaningful security pacts with PNG, so it has a true ally.