PNG police launch rescue operation for researchers held hostage

Australian professor and three Papua New Guinea researchers had been snatched at gunpoint early on Sunday.

The central authorities and police have little sway in PNG's highlands [File: Peter Parks/AFP]

A police operation is underway in Papua New Guinea to rescue an Australian college professor and three researchers taken hostage within the nation’s distant highlands.

The hostage disaster started after the teachers had been taken at gunpoint early on Sunday.

In a press release, Police Commissioner David Manning described the gunmen as armed criminals who wished money in return for releasing the captives.

Whereas they had been “opportunists”, the state of affairs was additionally “delicate”, the assertion mentioned.

“Our specialised safety pressure personnel will use no matter means obligatory in opposition to the criminals, as much as and together with using deadly pressure, with the intention to present for the protection and safety of the folks being held,” Manning mentioned.

Papua New Guinea’s rugged highlands are a sprawling expanse of jungle-cloaked hills the place the central authorities and safety forces have little sway.

Lately, the area has seen a rise in tribal warfare and an inflow of contemporary weapons.

The professor is an archaeologist who works for an Australian college and was on a discipline journey to the distant village of Fogoma’iu within the Mount Bosavi area, two sources with data of the incident instructed the Reuters information company. He has not been publicly recognized due to the sensitivity of the state of affairs.

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The three researchers are Papua New Guinea college college students.

Police mentioned the gunmen had noticed the college group by probability and brought them into the jungle.

They had been being held close to Fogoma’iu on the boundary of Southern Highlands and Hela provinces, with their captors initially demanding about $1m inside 24 hours to safe the group’s launch.

The sum was later dropped, and the deadline deserted.

“We're providing the abductors a approach out. They will launch their captives and they are going to be handled pretty by way of the felony justice system, however failure to conform and resisting arrest may price these criminals their lives,” Manning mentioned.

Australia’s Division of Overseas Affairs and Commerce didn't reply to requests for remark.