This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
Prime Minister James Marape has vowed to hunt down the killers after gunmen massacred at least 18 people, including women and children, in a remote village in Papua New Guinea.
The attack, which occurred on Monday in Karida village, is the latest in a long-running tribal feud that has ravaged the Pacific nation.
According to Philip Undialu, the governor of Hela Province, the violence was a retaliation for a previous attack, and 24 people have been killed in the latest phase of violence.
Undialu said that those targeted had offered shelter to victims of a bout of violence several weeks ago, and the attack was a 'very sudden attack'.
Prime Minister Marape, who became the leader in May, cited a lack of police on the ground as a major problem in a region that has for years grappled with violence, sometimes driven by disputes over the distribution of resource wealth.
ExxonMobil Corp operates a natural gas processing plant in the province, and halted construction on a pipeline last year due to unrest.
Published on July 11, 2019, at 12:26 AM.
