24 Sep 2007

Tribes clash in PNG capital

1:09 pm on 24 September 2007

There has been another ethnic clash in the Papua New Guinea capital.

Hundreds of Tari and Chimbu men from the highlands clashed in the suburb of Erima near the city's main airport.

Several men are reported to have been injured in the two-hour clash in which men used bows and arrows, spears, sticks, rocks and bush knives.

The fight started when a Chimbu woman was allegedly badly beaten by Taris on Saturday night, prompting a retaliatory attack on Taris in Erima by Chimbus.

The clash forced shops to close and blocked the main highway for a short time.