Papua New Guinea: At least 26 dead, including women and children, massacred in local feud
A gang of about 30 young men attacked three villages on the Sepik River, Angoram district, inflicting violence on women, children, and the elderly. The police only arrived after several days. Local Caritas sources report that the feud is due to a land dispute that has been going on for years. For those who fled into the forest, the situation is now a humanitarian emergency.
Port Moresby (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A few weeks before Pope Francis visits Papua New Guinea, the country is once again facing horror over a massacre linked to clashes between village clans.
At least 26 people, including 16 children, were killed in a series of attacks that hit Tamara, Tambari and Angrumara, three villages in Angoram district, Eastern Sepik province, in the northern part of the country.
Angoram police station commander Inspector Peter Mandi heard horrendous details about the massacres, with women raped before being killed and corpses left at the mercy of crocodiles on the banks of the Sepik River.
The violence was carried out at different times by a group of more than 30 young men from a gang that calls itself "I don't care".
The attacks began on Wednesday 17 July and continued over several days, with brutal violence on the most vulnerable, women, children, and elderly people.
The villages are in a remote area, difficult to access by road, so local police arrived only two days ago, while reinforcements from the national police made it only today.
The hunt for the gang is now underway along the Sepik River, but it is feared that more bodies will be found.
Many of the survivors fled into the surrounding forest.
One said that all the houses in his village had been razed to the ground and that residents had fled with only the clothes on their backs.
Local Caritas sources told AsiaNews that in the area, which is part of Kanduanum parish, Diocese of Wewak, four different groups have been feuding for years over land ownership and natural resources.
Despite this, there has never been adequate police deployment to stop the cycle of violence and retaliation.
Now the problem is also humanitarian since many people lost everything and are in the forest without help or emergency assistance.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said he was "horrified by the shocking eruption of deadly violence in Papua New Guinea".
Calling for “prompt, impartial and transparent investigations [. . .] to ensure those responsible are held to account” and victims receive proper compensation, he urged the authorities “to work in and with the affected communities to address the root causes of land and lake disputes, and so prevent recurrence of further violence.”
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