Riots in Papua New Guinea leave at least 15 dead

At least 15 people died during riots in cities in Papua New Guinea, whose government called in the army to try to restore order.

Following a peaceful protest called the day before by the Police and other security personnel, Some criminals took advantage of the situation to loot in Port Moresby, the capital, and the city of Lae, the second most populated in the country.

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According to the latest report published by the Lae metropolitan police, eight people died in the capital and seven in Lae, reported the Australian public channel. ABC.

“The ambulance service has received a large number of emergency calls in the capital related to shootings and people injured in an explosion,” the Saint John Papua New Guinea emergency service stressed on its Facebook profile.

Videos posted on social media show warehouses engulfed in flames and large crowds of people participating in looting.which have spread to other regions and lasted late into the night, according to the local Post-Courier newspaper.

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Before the riots, about 200 striking police, army and prison officers entered Parliament peacefully during a demonstration to protest the tax increase on civil servants' salaries.

Looters and opportunists took advantage of the poor security situation to unleash chaos.

The Prime Minister, James Marape, insisted this morning at an event with the media in ask the population not to “go out into the streets” and do everything they want” and stressed that it is imperative that the country restore security by emphasizing that they will open an investigation to determine responsibility for the events.

“Yesterday the police were not working in the city and people resorted to anarchy,” he added.

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Given the tense situation, Marape authorized Defense personnel on Wednesday to “assist the police in restoring order” in the country.

Military personnel asked a crowd gathered in Lae for calm, after blocking streets and closing several official buildings in the city, according to the video posted by Post-Courier.

Papua New Guinea, a resource-rich nation that has a large part of its twelve million inhabitants in extreme poverty, It is isolated by communications problems, especially in remote areas where security, as well as basic health and education services, are lacking.

Independent from Australia in 1975, this country – whose Government signed a security agreement with Canberra last December that includes financial aid to modernize its police forces – also has a long history of political intrigue, corruption and internal conflicts.

EFE

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