By Norm Dixon
The Papua New Guinea government has sent 40 troops to Bougainville who have just completed intensive counterinsurgency, jungle warfare and commando training at the Australian Defence Force base in Canungra, near the Gold Coast in Queensland.
In the light of Australia's provision of combat helicopters and patrol boats and the revelation that PNG police have been trained for combat in Bougainville, the arrival of PNGDF troops directly from training in Australia further deepens Australia's involvement in the war.
Despite the reinforcements, and bullish statements from PNG Prime Minister Paias Wingti, PNG troops have yet to attempt to take control of Arawa and remain encamped at Tunuru Catholic Mission on the town's outskirts and at the Itakara road junction between Arawa and Panguna.
Wingti said on October 29 that "government authority is now established in central Bougainville". But he added that troops had not yet established a permanent presence in Arawa, Panguna or Kieta, having only begun "regular patrols". Wingti indicated that troops were meeting resistance, saying that a "few misguided rebels ... are still shooting at security forces near Arawa".
Wingti's claim to be in control of central Bougainville has been firmly rejected by the Bougainville Interim Government's representative in Honiara, Martin Miriori. He said that on October 27 Bougainville Revolutionary Army militants ambushed two trucks carrying PNG soldiers between Itakara Junction and Tunuru mission, causing several casualties. BRA fighters also attacked Tunuru the same day from a nearby mangrove swamp.
Radio Free Bougainville, which continues to broadcast despite press reports to the contrary, described claims by PNG that five BRA fighters have been killed since the PNG advance as "utter nonsense and sheer propaganda ... The real truth ... is that PNG troops are now being made to be continually on the run since they ... camped at the Itakara Junction and Tunuru mission."
The PNGDF has also denied BRA claims that five soldiers were killed in a clash on October 21. The PNGDF has said three soldiers were injured in the clash. Several other soldiers have been injured in later clashes, a PNGDF spokesperson admitted.