Bougainville Report

News just coming from Bougainville Island in the Pacific says that there has been renewed and very heavy fighting between the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army over the weekend of Friday 6th to Sunday 8th September.

A camp of PNGDF was over run and captured by the BRA forces on Sunday 8 September. The PNGDF had been warned in June this year and given one month by the South Bougainville BRA forces to move out of the area. This is the first known major contact between the BRA forces and the PNGDF since the much heralded PNGDF ‘Operation High Speed 2’, which was launched in June 1996 and defeated by the BRA forces on 15 July. There is a rumour however that the PNGDF is planning ‘Operation High Speed 3’ in the near future. According to BRA information thirteen PNGDF soldiers were killed and five surrendered. The BRA say that they have also captured twenty four rifles, ammunition, and one mortar launcher with live mortar rounds. For more details contact: Bougainville Freedom Movement, P.O. Box 134, Erskineville, NSW 2043, Australia. E mail: V.john@uts.edu.au or Bougainville Freedom Movement (UK), c/o South Downs Earth First!