At least 24 people, including two pregnant women and several children, have been killed in violence between Highland clans in Papua New Guinea, local officials said on Wednesday.

Authorities said the killings occurred over the course of three days since Saturday in the villages of Karida and Peta the western province of Hela. The provincial police commander, Teddy Augwi, said the attackers used high-powered rifles.

Prime Minister James Marape vowed to bring "the gun-toting criminals" to justice.

"Today is one of the saddest days of my life," Marape, who became the South Pacific country's prime minister in May, said in a statement. "Many children and mothers innocently murdered in Munima and Karida villages of my electorate.

"To those who have been living off killing others, I am coming for you."

Reinforcements coming?

The motivation behind the attack is not yet clear, but many fights in the region are fueled by old rivalries prompted by theft or disputes over tribal boundaries.

Highland tribes in Papua New Guinea have been at odds for centuries, but an influx of automatic weapons has escalated the violence.

Authorities are set to meet later Wednesday to decide whether to declare the area "a fighting zone," Hela administrator William Bando told the local Post-Courier newspaper. That would allow special laws to be put into action to mobilize defense and security forces to arrest the killers.

Bando has called for at least 100 police to be deployed to reinforce the 40 local officers in the province.

Marape, who is from the province, said he had been requesting more security for Hela since 2012, which has a population of 400,000.

dv/se (AFP, AP, dpa)

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