A unit commander has been killed and another policeman is seriously injured after they were ambushed in Papua New Guinea's Hela province.
PNG soldiers in Hela Province. Photo: Scott Waide
Sergeant David Hale from Simbu Province was a sector commander of a unit tasked with bringing law and order to Hela.
He was shot and killed instantly near Pureni village on Tuesday.
Police say another constable was shot in the knee but managed to escape with two colleagues.
The police car the men were travelling in was torched and two officers had their high-powered rifles stolen.
Law and order issues in the resource-rich Hela province have been on the rise.
This year 16 women and children were killed in a massacre as part of an ongoing tribal conflict.
The motive for the latest ambush is yet to be confirmed.
