A young boy in a blue shirt is sitting next to me on the ground as I interview Smith Thomas, a former tribal warlord in the remote mountains of Papua New Guinea.
I’d barely noticed the child until Mr Thomas singles him out.
"He is one of my soldiers. He's been to war," he says.
We were discussing the evolution of tribal warfare in the country's highlands, made increasingly lethal with access to high-powered illegal weapons.
Mr Thomas showed us some of the military-grade assault rifles, which are worth thousands of dollars on the black market, that his tribal fighters had in their possession.
Then, he tells me eight-year-olds are being trained to handle these guns.
"Like this kid, he's a fighter," Mr Thomas says.
"This guy knows how to fire, load, reload ammunition into the magazine.
"Yeah,?he's capable."
The boy, who the ABC has chosen not to name for ethical reasons, looks no more than 12 years old.
He has big, clear eyes and an expression that is serious and composed until someone cracks a joke and his face lights up with a bright, cheeky smile.
"So,?he's a soldier?" I ask.
"He's a soldier.?He's one of my soldiers," Mr Thomas responds.
New research sponsored by the UN suggests some of the most dangerous weapons in PNG have been trafficked by soldiers or police and sold on the black market.
They are often purchased with the backing of politicians and powerful elites.
A draft report says these elites — often distanced from direct conflict — buy illegal guns for remote tribes to protect land, mining interests and political seats.
It found that some of these individuals are importing weapons through "official ports using influence or fake documentation".
Kate Schutze, Amnesty International's Pacific researcher, says the situation is heartbreaking.
"We're seeing very shocking human rights violations and more needs to be done to address the cultural practices which are leading to the normalisation of violence," she says.
Across Papua New Guinea, police are now preparing to launch a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed firearms.
If successful, it will be the largest and most concerted initiative of its kind after decades of poor enforcement, allowing illegal weapons to proliferate across the country.
The tribal conflict in Enga province
The ABC was granted rare access to speak with some of the so-called "warlords" at the centre of recent conflict in Enga province, a hotspot for gun violence.
They have recently brokered a peace deal and agreed to surrender their guns.
Driving with private security, passing through military checkpoints, we make our way off the highway into the remote Aiyall valley to meet Smith Thomas.
When we arrive, the village is peaceful and serene.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a large gun.
It looks similar to the ones soldiers were holding at the military checkpoint moments earlier.
The gun is slung casually over the shoulder of a tall man wearing a black rain jacket.
It's an M16 A2 assault rifle — a military-grade automatic weapon that cannot be imported for civilian use.
"In the past, our ancestors, they used just bow and arrows," Mr Thomas tells me.
"But machineries from the Western world, that really makes the tribal warfare easier."
Tribal conflict is deeply rooted in Engan culture and has occurred in this part of Papua New Guinea for centuries.
But more recently, the battles have been supercharged with these high-powered weapons, causing devastating bloodshed.
"[These guns] can destroy more people," Mr Thomas says.
He and his allies estimate they have lost around 800 people in the past seven years, some of them innocent civilians, including women and children.
I ask him how he can justify taking the life of another person — a crime under Papua New Guinean law.
He says it's difficult to explain to an outsider.
"Enemies kill our people, so we must take revenge and kill their people.?So, it's unlawful and it's not good, but we have to take it head on," he says.
"Guns are for our protection. They are used to defend our people. Enga is a tribal area," another man adds.
Firearms are viewed as essential to defending land and resources as well to avenge the deaths of relatives killed in tribal wars, creating an endless cycle of violence.
And now it appears that cycle increasingly involves kids.
'They just let him go die in the battlefield'
All around the village, I see children standing next to men with rifles.
One of them is a young toddler clutching a toy gun, an image of where his future could be headed.
Mr Thomas says children as young as seven or eight are sent to fight.
We are introduced to several boys who we are told have been taught to handle automatic weapons, following older fighters into the battlefield.
"Sometimes they come back safe, sometimes they get killed," Mr Thomas says.
I ask him why these kids are being sent to war.
He says the culture of revenge means these boys don't have a choice — they are obliged to avenge the deaths of their relatives.
"Most of them, their elder brothers may [have been] killed in the battlefield, or their fathers might have been killed in the battlefield," he says.
Families rarely intervene.
"They will not say, 'My son is too young, so leave him aside,'" Mr Thomas says.
"Their mothers have got this understanding that our son is going to take revenge, or they just let him go die in the battlefield."
In the same village we meet Jacob Luke, a mercenary who is hired to fight for other tribes.
He began using guns when he was just 14 years old and now he owns three M16s — weapons he says he stole from people he killed in battles.
"I grew up around guns at home. It is normal for me to carry guns around," he tells me.
The rise of mercenaries and sexual violence
The use of paid mercenaries in tribal conflict is a new practice in this part of Papua New Guinea.
Historically, people have fought largely to defend their own tribes and allies.
But locals say they now need more manpower.
Barbara Komainde, who is researching illegal weapons across seven highland provinces in PNG, says it is a sign warfare is evolving into a sophisticated industry.
"It's becoming a lucrative business," she says.
But that growing business is causing harm to some of PNG's most vulnerable people.
Ms Komainde's research team found that women and girls are being trafficked to mercenaries as a form of compensation.
This was confirmed by Mr Luke.
"Money, food, whatever we want, we demand. Also, we are given women," he says.
"We are like a boss or hero. Whatever we demand, they give it to us quickly."
We ask those who hire mercenaries how they can justify the sexual abuse and commodification of women and girls. They claim they "don't have a choice".
"The hired gunmen come to protect our land boundaries, that is why we give even our wives and the young girls," one man replies
The ABC was not able speak to the women or girls impacted but Ms Schutze says sexual violence against women in PNG was prolific.
"There is absolutely a huge issue around consent and these sorts of transactional relationships," she says.
"And how women and girls are being coerced and manipulated, because that is not free and informed consent."
Ms Komainde agrees sexual violence is a huge issue and says the buck stops with powerful people supplying illegal weapons to these communities.
"The women keep on telling us, 'We the small people in the village, we cannot afford the high-powered guns because they're very expensive,'" she says.
"It's the big eagles that are flying in the guns and the bullets."
The flow of illegal weapons in PNG
Ms Komainde and former PNG Defence Force Commander Jerry Singirok surveyed about 1,200 people across the region as part of a study on illegal weapons funded by the UN.
Respondents included men, women, youth, community leaders, law enforcement officers, and ex-combatants.
The draft report estimated about 100,000 illegal weapons are circulating in the community.
It found 48 per cent of people said illegal firearms were smuggled across borders, 24 per cent said they came from elites, politicians and businessmen, while 16 per cent claimed they were traded by the police, military and prison officers.
They are paid for with cash, drugs, women and pigs, the draft report states.
"The government has absolutely lost control," Mr Singirok says.
"Soldiers and policemen selling ammunition, trading ammunition, or moonlighting their weapons, or selling their weapons.
"Where is command and control?"
PNG's current Chief of Defence Rear Admiral Philip Polewara acknowledges military weapons and ammunition have ended up in the hands of tribal fighters, although it was difficult to say exactly when they changed hands.
He says the PNGDF is currently conducting an audit of how many weapons have been lost, with results to be made public when completed.
New systems for accounting for weapons to stop them being smuggled were also being implemented, he adds.
"I'm in the seat now, so I take responsibility of what has happened and put the things back in order," he says.
PNG cracks down on guns
PNG's new police minister, Sir John Pundari, has also vowed to crack down on illegal weapons, announcing a nationwide gun amnesty.
"It's a national concern, and the government has got to deal with it," he tells the ABC.
During the amnesty period, which is yet to be set, civilians are encouraged to surrender their firearms to avoid criminal charges.
But Sir John tells the ABC if they fail to handover their weapons, they will face the full force of the law.
He says a para-militaristic police squad, known as Kumul-23, had been gathering intelligence and was tasked with going after anyone with illegal weapons.
Five people were killed in a recent Kumul-23 raid after tribesmen resisted handing over weapons in Enga province.
"In operations as such, unfortunate things will happen, and we don't want that to happen," Sir John says
"You've got to now, freely and willingly … surrender and transform to be good citizens of the country."
Back in Enga province, it's something Smith Thomas and his allies have agreed to — hoping it will be a turning point for his community.
"I'm tired of this tribal warfare. I want peace to be restored, and I want kids to go back to the school," he says.
