Five dead in tribal fight

Five Papua New Guineans have been hacked to death, with one of them beheaded, after a four day fight sparked by the theft of a mobile phone.

The fight in the capital Port Moresby started at a popular market on Thursday afternoon but retaliations continued until Sunday.

Police told both national newspapers five men are dead from brutal bush knife attacks with scores of others injured and in hospital with knife wounds.

Police said the fight erupted when a woman had her mobile phone stolen at the busy Gordon's market and fellow tribesmen who came to her aid attacked the thief.

The following day relatives of the alleged thief attacked the rival group reportedly hacking a man to death with bush knives.

Chief Superintendent Tondop called for calm after the "animalistic and barbaric" clashes that included a beheading and several dismembered bodies.

"Port Moresby is a modern city and I can't understand why people resort to such barbaric acts.

"It is very dangerous for such ethnic violence to erupt in Port Moresby," he said.

The fight was between two Highlander ethnic groups, Tari and Engans, whose fierce reputation for tribal fighting in their home regions often spills over into the capital, hundreds of kilometres away.

- AAP