Kumul23 set for Enga

By ANTOINETTE POIVI
ABOUT 120 soldiers and two police mobile squads are to be deployed to Enga to quell tribal fights there, says acting police commissioner Dr Philip Mitna.
This will be the first deployment of a special elite force called the Kumul23 Police Tactical Group.
Shortened to Kumul23, this group combines the best of police, defence force and other security forces, and is tasked to provide a precision capability to arrest domestic terrorist ringleaders, dismantle terrorist cells, and target those who direct these terrorists, and complement standard operational forces.
Two armoured vehicles will also be deployed to the province to provide back-up.
Mitna said Kumul23 had been issued non-lethal weapons as well as firearms and ammunition for the deployment.
The armoured cars will support operations to reopen Porgera mine and be available for the Laiagap by-election when writs are issued.
Two additional police mobile squads have been mobilised for urgent deployment in line with operational orders.
In another move, the police have commandeered Enga police men and women in the National Capital District (NCD) to go back to their province to talk to the people to embrace peace and lay down hostilities.
Mitna said: “We are going to be both proactive and reactive. Proactive basically though community policing and as part of our strategy to deploy Engan-based senior police officers from NCD to go back to their province so they can talk to their people but it needs support from a wider community.”
Long-range recon units and other specialist units have been inserted, Mitna said.
These units are providing security forces with up-to-date intelligence on criminals who seek to terrorise communities.
This includes both those who wield guns and those who direct them.
He has also announced the formation of a Miok Force comprising a team of 70 Enga policemen and women based in the NCD to conduct a massive awareness campaign throughout Enga.
The Miok Force will be divided into six teams to cover all six districts of Enga.
“They know the language. They know the customs and they know the underlying issues.
“As policemen and women they have a genuine desire to bring peace and normalcy back into Enga.”
Engan public servants, business-people, student leaders, churches, youth and women groups, will be encouraged to join the Miok Force teams in the awareness campaign in the various districts of Enga.
Mitna said: “We are closely monitoring isolated instances of violent confrontation. As part of this process, we are engaging with leaders to ensure that peace can prevail, and law and order is restored into our various communities in the tribal fighting areas.
“I commend the recent engagement of our political leaders in calling for calm in Enga.”