A media report from Papua New Guinea says that fresh violence has flared up in Morobe Province between members of a local village and settlers from Sepik.
The Post Courier newspaper reports that fighting occurred in Bulolo, Tewae-Siassi as well as the 4-Mile district in Lae over the weekend.
Police say they were outnumbered and struggled to contain the fighting which put several people in hospital with serious gun and knife wounds.
The Morobe police commander Peter Guinness claimed the fighting was alcohol-related.
Earlier this year a ban on liquor sales was imposed in the area but liquor traders in Bulolo successfully took out a court injunction to overturn it.
Mr Guinness blames government authorities for failing to address the law and order problems in the district.
