Two people are dead after a pornographic text message sparked tribal violence in Papua New Guinea's southern highlands.

The violence flared on Saturday when a young man from the Tapo clan in Tari sent a pornographic text message to a woman in the Pipi clan.

The girl was offended and showed the image to her brother, who gathered his clansmen and attacked the Tapos with home-made guns, bush knives and bows and arrows.

One man was killed in the clash and Superintendent Jimmy Onopia says another man was pulled from a bus and killed with an axe yesterday.

"Two people have died, several have been wounded, several houses have been burnt down," he said.

Superintendent Onopia says the situation is now calm and police are helping to negotiate a peaceful resolution.