At least 64 killed in tribal fighting in Papua New Guinea

At least 64 people have died in a major escalation of tribal fighting in Papua New Guinea's highlands, local media said on Monday, Report informs, citing Xinhua.

Police in Wapenamanda, Enga province, confirmed that 64 bodies had been recovered from the roadside, grassland, and hills of the region since the fighting started early Sunday morning, according to PNG's local newspaper Post-Courier.

Security personnel said some bodies were still out there in the bushes, the newspaper reported.

Earlier, the Australian ABC News broadcaster reported that at least 53 people had died in the tribal fighting, and more people could have died in the bushes.

"This is by far the largest killing I've seen in Enga, maybe in all of the Highlands as well, in Papua New Guinea," Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Superintendent George Kakas was quoted as saying.

It was understood that the tribal fighting involved the same tribes that killed more than 60 people in 2023, ABC News reported.