Police: More than 35 dead in tribal violence in Papua New Guinea

“There was heavy fighting on Sunday, and it is estimated that 35 or more men were killed,” Tondon told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

“I add up all the numbers. Some innocent bystanders were also murdered,” he added.

Mate Bagossy, a United Nations humanitarian adviser to the South Pacific island nation, said up to 50 people had been killed in days of violence in Enga.

He said he could not estimate the number of injured and was checking with local health facilities, which he said were poorly equipped to deal with medical emergencies.

Authorities told aid agencies on Tuesday that up to 300 soldiers and police would move into the area to restore peace, Bagossy said.

“We are not sure whether the situation will calm down. The situation has not stabilized yet,” said Bagossy.

Fighting in the Porgera Valley broke out on the outskirts of the town of Porgera near the New Porgera gold mine. The violence forced the mine to largely cease operations until at least Thursday.

Houses and shops in the village of Suyan were razed to the ground in the fighting, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

At a disaster management meeting led by Papua New Guinea's National Disaster Management Centre and UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard on Tuesday, it was agreed to send a team to Porgera within days to assess humanitarian needs, the level of danger and accessibility of the area, Bagossy said.

One obstacle for relief workers was that the main road to Porgera, 40 kilometers outside the city, was blocked by debris from a massive landslide on May 24.

The national government estimates that more than 2,000 villagers were buried and hundreds displaced. The UN estimates that only 670 villagers died, but does not deny that the death toll could be much higher.

Tribal warfare is a growing security problem throughout Papua New Guinea and is widespread in Enga. Recovery from the situation since the landslide has been slow.