A rescue effort for hostages, including an Australian scholar, is underway in Papua New Guinea

• Armed criminals kidnapped a group of international citizens and local guides.
• Police have initiated a rescue mission.
• An Australian academic is among those being held for ransom.

Police in Papua New Guinea have initiated a rescue mission after armed criminals kidnapped a group of international citizens and local guides in a remote section of the country, authorities said in a statement Monday.

An Australian academic is among those being held for ransom, according to the sources citing Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.

Negotiations continue to gain the hostages’ release, and police have stated that they will use “all necessary force” to rescue them. The group is being held at Fogoma’iu hamlet in the Southern Highlands province, according to the police statement, however, it is unclear how many hostages were seized.

According to PNG Police Commissioner David Manning, the thieves saw the group “by chance” and took advantage of them.

A way out

“These are opportunists that have obviously not thought this situation through before they acted, and have been asking for cash to be paid,” Manning said, adding that authorities are “offering the abductors a way out.”

“They can release their captives and they will be treated fairly through the criminal justice system, but failure to comply and resisting arrest could cost these criminals their lives,” he said.

Manning stated that contact with “relevant diplomatic representatives” will be continued until the situation is settled.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia has not officially commented on the situation.

Papua New Guinea, a Pacific nation of almost 9 million people, shares an island with the troubled Indonesian province of Papua.

Separatist forces in Papua kidnapped a New Zealand pilot earlier this month. Local police identified the pilot as Philip Mehrtens, who was apprehended after landing a commercial Susi Air charter jet at Paro Airport in the remote highlands of the Nduga region.

Previously, the organization asked that all inbound aircraft to Paro Airport be halted, and stated that the pilot would not be released until the Indonesian government recognized Papuan independence.

Also Read

92 unclaimed bodies buried in mass grave in Papua New Guinea

92 remains from Port Moresby General Hospital's mortuary are interred. Mortuaries have...