Bougainville conflict

Bougainville conflict

District map of Bougainville (North Solomons)
Date1 December 1988 – 20 April 1998
Location
Result

Military stalemate[2]

Belligerents

 Papua New Guinea

  • Buka Liberation Front
  • Bougainville Resistance Force
Supported by:
 Australia
 Indonesia[1]

Bougainville Interim Government (BIG)

Supported by:
 Solomon Islands
 Fiji (alleged)
Commanders and leaders
Julius Chan
Jerry Singirok (WIA)
Paias Wingti
Bill Skate
Rabbie Namaliu
Francis Ona
Sam Kauona
Theodore Miriung 
Ishmael Toroama
Joseph Kabui
Strength
~800 soldiers
150 police
Several thousand resistance fighters
4 UH-1 Iroquois helicopters
4 Pacific-class patrol boats
~2,000
Casualties and losses
300+ PNGDF soldiers killed
Several thousand wounded
1,000–2,000 fighters killed
Estimates vary between 15,000–20,000 Bougainvilleans dead[3]

The Bougainville conflict, also known as the Bougainville Civil War, was a multi-layered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between PNG and the secessionist forces of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), and between the BRA and other armed groups on Bougainville. The conflict was described by Bougainvillean President John Momis as the largest conflict in Oceania since the end of World War II in 1945, with an estimated 15,000–20,000 Bougainvilleans dead, although lower estimates place the toll at around 1,000–2,000.[3]

Hostilities concluded under the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 1998. The national (PNG) government agreed to the founding of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and to certain rights and authorities that the autonomous government would have over what became known as Bougainville Province, which includes outlying small islands in addition to Bougainville Island itself.

  1. ^ Bohane, Ben (8 October 2019). "The Bougainville Referendum And Beyond". Lowy Institute.
  2. ^ Bahcheli, Tozun, Barry Bartmann, and Henry Srebrnik, eds. De facto states: the quest for sovereignty, p. 242. Routledge, 2004.
  3. ^ a b Braithwaite 2010, pp. 86–87.