Internal security worsening in vital island nation Papua New Guinea

At least 26 combatants and an unconfirmed number of bystanders were killed in a tribal clash in Papua New Guinea's highlands on the 18th of February. Some police and cabinet officials put the death toll between 49 and 64, taking into account the fact that bodies were still being recovered. The military had deployed about 100 troops to the area but they remain woefully outnumbered, outgunned and ineffective. The incident, in the early hours of Sunday, put an escalating internal security problem under the lens in the south pacific island nation. Recently, the strategically vital island nation has garnered close military attention from the rival powers, the United States and China.