The police commander in Papua New Guinea's Enga province says a tribal fighting zone declared by the government last week seems to be having an effect.
Superintendent George Kakas called for the zone after two weeks of tribal violence near the Porgera mine in late July that killed 15 people.
He says that since the declaration last week, one hundred extra officers have been deployed to the valley to keep the peace and enforce a liquor ban.
Enga Provincial Police Commander Superintendent George Kakas. Photo: google+ / Kakas
Mr Kakas says four suspects have also been arrested for the spate of killings, with 20 suspects yet to be tracked down.
But he says the operation already appears to be working.
"The situation's OK now, usually there was this fear in the community. But now that we've got this operation in full swing I feel that there's some sort of normalcy being restored. The community is walking around freely, so I thinks should be back to normal once all the suspects are arrested."
George Kakas says the operation will continue until all suspects are arrested and tensions have eased.
