DEADLY TRIBAL CLASH

MORE than 20 people including children and pregnant women have been killed in recent tribal violence in Papua New Guinea.

Reports of the death toll and dates of the violence in the remote highland province of Hela have varied but Hela Governor Philip Undialu said the latest bloodshed was on Monday.

Sixteen people, including women and children, died at the village of Karida, Mr Undialu said.

The killings were probably retaliation for an earlier attack that left around seven dead, he said.

“This has escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids,” Mr Undialu said.

The Post-Courier newspaper, based in the South Pacific island nation’s capital Port Moresby, reported as many as 24 people had been killed in the villages of Karida and Peta since Saturday.

Six people had been ambushed and killed near Peta on Saturday, Hela Police Chief Inspector Teddy Augwi told the newspaper.

The victims’ relatives retaliated with rifles the next day, killing between 16 and 18 people at Karida, including pregnant women, he said.

“This is not a tribal fight where the opposing villagers face each other on field,” Chief Augwi told the newspaper.

“This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide-and-seek and ambush their enemies.”

Many villagers had fled the violence, Hela Administrator William Bando said.

It was not immediately clear if any suspects had been arrested.

Tribal violence is common in Papua New Guinea’s interior, where villagers avenge relatives in retaliation attacks.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said those responsible for the fatal attacks could face the death penalty.