Fighting flares up on Bougainville
Fighting flares up on Bougainville
PORT MORESBY (Reuter): Fighting had flared up again on the Papua New Guinea (PNG) island of Bougainville with continuous rebel attacks on pro-government villages this week, Bougainville Premier Theodore Miriung said yesterday.
The attacks have prompted some members of parliament to call for all-out war against the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), which has been fighting for secession for almost eight years.
Miriung said in a statement that several civilians were wounded in the attacks, which have shattered hopes for peace after a second round of talks between all parties in Cairns in Australia last month.
PNG opposition leader Roy Evara called on Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan to declare an "all-out war" on the BRA.
"If the rebels want war it should be given to them," Evara said in a statement. "The BRA are at war with the rest of Papua New Guinea and we must stop playing marbles with them."
South Bougainville member of parliament, Michael Laimo, challenged rebel leaders to prove their control over the BRA members.
"Given the recent kind of behavior by the BRA, the BRA leadership that is involved in the current peace process has either lost all control or that is not a truly representative group," Laimo said in a statement.
He called for the government to suspend all peace talks until the BRA leadership has proved its true credentials.
A third round of talks was expected to be held in Australia in March or April to continue discussions on disarming all factions, amnesty for rebels, and the future status of Bougainville.
The conflict on Bougainville has devastated the resource-rich island, stopping all vital services and halting its lucrative agricultural and mining industries, including CRA Ltd's massive Panguna copper mine, idle since 1989.
Since the conflict began, hundreds of people have died, either in fighting or due to a lack of medical supplies available on the island, which is 800 kilometers northeast of Port Moresby.