Women and kids raped, massacred in PNG

At least 26 people, many of them women and children, were killed in a horrific massacre that’s rocked PNG. Warning: Graphic content.

Warning: Graphic content.

A mass killing has rocked Papua New Guinea’s Angoram district in East Sepik.

People in three villages dotted along the Sepik River were suddenly attacked by a gang of men armed with guns, knives, wire catapults, machetes and axes.

About 33 men from a youth gang called “I don’t care” initially burned houses and killed an elderly man, and a five-year-old boy in the Angrumara village about 4am on July 17.

At 5am the next day, the village of Tambari was attacked while most of the villagers slept. A number of men were murdered and women and young girls were raped and killed.

The official death toll is 26 people, including 16 children, however there are fears it could rise to 50.

More than 200 people fled from the villages as their “homes were torched”, finding refuge at Angorom station.

A third village, Tamara, was also attacked.

Police search the Sepik River for bodies after the massacre. Picture: Post Courier

Locals at the scene in Tambari village following the attack. Picture: The National

Acting East Sepik Provincial Police Commander Senior Inspector James Baugen told the Post Courier that mothers nursing their babies were decapitated and the bodies of the victims mutilated.

“Most of the bodies were found, their heads were chopped off. Some are mothers who were trying to save their children from being slaughtered,” he said.

“The crime scene is rotting with dead bodies. Some of the bodies were seen floating down the Sepik River and taken by crocodiles,” he added.

One woman described how she quietly clung to a log, desperately trying to avoid the attackers.

“I could hear women wailing in pain, children crying out. I was lucky the men didn’t see me,” she told The National.

“Three of my sisters were raped but escaped while another seven are missing. Three mothers with infants were killed and the babies taken away.”

Authorities have mobilised teams to organise food and shelter for the displaced people and a mobile squad will be deployed in a bid to stop the violence that has plagued the area for the past seven years.

The horrific massacre was reported on by major newspapers in PNG.

Local media reports on the horrific massacre. Picture: Benar News

United Nations (UN) rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement: “I am horrified by the shocking eruption of deadly violence in Papua New Guinea, seemingly as the result of a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights.”

The Austrian lawyer called on PNG authorities “to conduct prompt, impartial and transparent investigations and to ensure those responsible are held to account”.

“It is also vital that victims and their families receive reparations, including adequate housing, effective protection against further attacks and necessary psychosocial support.”

He called on 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”.

The killings took place in the Kanda area of Angoram, in the north of PNG’s main island. Picture: Google Maps

Violence has erupted in the

Earlier this year, the UN urged PNG to address the root causes of escalating tribal violence in the country after dozens were killed in a particularly violent clash between rival tribes.

Conflicts among 17 tribal groups had progressively escalated since elections in 2022 over issues including land disputes and clan rivalries, spokesman Jeremy Laurence said at the time.

Clans have fought each other in Papua New Guinea for centuries, but an influx of mercenaries and automatic weapons has inflamed the cycle of violence.

At the same time, the country’s population has more than doubled since 1980, placing increasing strain on land and resources, and stoking deepening tribal rivalries

- with AFP