By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby
Despite a “historic” ceasefire agreement in Papua New Guinea between Enga authorities and tribal leaders after months of bitter warfare, a young woman has been found brutally killed near Kaekin village, Wapenamanda.
Despite the peace agreement and signing concluded in Port Moresby last Thursday and officiated by the Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka and Police Commissioner David Manning, the killing of the woman highlights that many others do not support the ceasefire.
The victim is believed to be in her early 20s with the killing said to have taken place on Friday morning.
The body was found lying next to the main Okuk Highway at Kaikin Pausa village within the tribal fighting zone by several local boys from Yaibos and was reported to police.
Police and security forces on the ground attended to the crime scene to establish the identity of the deceased, but it was very difficult to identify her as her face was believed to be skinned and removed by a sharp object.
Police said that the deceased was killed somewhere else and dumped along the road.
Police were investigating.
‘Three-month ceasefire’
RNZ Pacific reports the warring tribal groups in Wapenamanda district in Enga Province had agreed to a “three-month unconditional ceasefire”.
The agreement, reached in negotiations in Port Moresby, should end killings involving tribes in the Middle Lai, Aiyale and Tsaka Valley of Wapenamanda.
However, the Post-Courier reports that no agreement has been reached to surrender guns after the leaders began historic peace talks last week.
The newspaper said intense fighting, which began more than three years ago, has left hundreds dead, millions of kina worth of properties destroyed, and thousands left homeless.
Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.
