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Police in Solomon Islands have beefed up security along the shared maritime border with Papua New Guinea, ahead of the Bougainville independence referendum this weekend.
The non-binding referendum, which begins on Saturday, is the final expression of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, signed in 2001 to formally end the decade long civil conflict.
Fighting during the war often spilled into Western Solomons.
Officers from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force have this week been visiting communities in the Shortland Islands, which are only a few hours by boat from Bougainville, to reassure them that they will be maintaining an increased presence in the region while the referendum is being conducted.
