PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea ? Rebel soldiers have staged an apparently bloodless mutiny in the Papua New Guinea capital on Thursday and installed a new military leader, a news agency and Australian officials reported.
The new crisis comes during a turbulent period in the South Pacific's most populous island nation, where two political leaders claim to be the rightful prime minister. Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that the rebel troops are loyal to ousted prime minister Sir Michael Somare, but it is unclear whether the mutiny amounts to an attempted coup.
Between 12 and 20 soldiers overpowered guards at the Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby before dawn, ABC reported, citing an unnamed senior source in the Papua New Guinea defense force.
The rebel soldiers then moved to the military headquarters at Murray Barracks and placed the head of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, under house arrest.
Papua New Guinea's former defense attache to Indonesia, Colonel Safa, has declared himself defense chief, ABC reported. There have been no reports of bloodshed.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has the largest diplomatic mission of any country in Port Moresby, confirmed that the defense chief had been overthrown.
"We are concerned about these developments overnight in Port Moresby," the department said in a statement, without detailing those developments.
"We urge that the situation be resolved as soon as possible, and that the PNGDF chain of command is restored," it added.
New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill had told Australia ? Papua New Guinea's former colonial master and main provider of foreign aid ? that "authorities were taking steps to manage the situation," the department said.
O'Neill had yet to publicly comment on the situation, his office told The Associated Press.
A reporter at the Papua New Guinea's leading Post-Courier newspaper told the AP that the newspaper is still trying to figure out exactly what has taken place.
There has been a power struggle going on for months in Papua New Guinea between Somare and O'Neill.
Last month, the country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio backed Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed as prime minister while getting medical treatment outside the country.
But Ogio changed his mind days later, saying bad legal advice had led him to incorrectly reinstate Somare as prime minister.
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