Aussie firm to train elite PNG police unit to ‘surgically remove’ violent crims

Papua New Guinea has hired an Australian firm run by former special forces personnel to train a new elite counter-terrorism unit to respond to soaring incidents of tribal violence and kidnappings.

Tribal fighters in Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province face off in a show of their strength, with many brandishing home-made guns and metre-long bush knives that leave victims with devastating wounds. Picture: Facebook

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Papua New Guinea has hired an Australian firm run by former special forces personnel to train a new elite counter-terrorism unit to respond to soaring incidents of tribal violence and kidnappings.

West Australian-based company Executive Risk Solutions, established by former Special Air Service Regiment soldier Scott Houston, will support the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary to stand up its new ­KUMUL 23 police tactical group.

PNG police commissioner David Manning said the unit would comprise the service’s top officers, who would “surgically remove violent criminal threats and those who terrorise our ­communities”.

Its establishment comes as PNG police track a group of men who kidnapped a health worker and his wife, a teacher and his wife, and a number of students, in the country’s rugged Western Province.

“This is an act of domestic terrorism, and security personnel are authorised to use full force against the kidnappers if the hostages are not released safely,” Mr Manning said of the unfolding kidnapping case. “Such attempts by criminals to terrorise people in their villages and the kidnapping of innocent men, women and youth taken from their homes will not be tolerated.”

Former SAS soldier and founder of Executive Risk Solutions Scott Houston.

ERS’s training will be led by a former WA and Victoria police tactical response group officer, who will deliver weapons and tactical training and instruction on professional conduct.

“The development of these robust training programs and operating standards is benchmarked against Australian and New Zealand counter-terrorism standards to ensure we get this right,” Mr Manning said. “These skills will ensure KUMUL 23 can conduct complex counter-terrorism operations, intelligence-led policing operations, and employ modern policing surveillance technologies.”

He said only the most talented and committed officers would be appointed to the unit.

ERS won its first big contract in 2012 with Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill mining operation, establishing it as a leading provider of high-end security, crisis and emergency response services.

It employs more than 550 advisers and experts, including many former special forces operators, and has offices across the globe including in Singapore, the US, Niger, Mozambique and Guyana.

PNG is riven with tribal conflict, violent crime and gender-based violence.

Hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in the Highlands by rival tribes, who use automatic weapons and bush knives to perpetuate ancient ­conflicts.