Sounds just like the Solomons when the fertiliser hit the air mobiliser. Everyone panics and stays clear of the place just because of a bit of trouble. Most of the time if you get in and out of the area where the strife is quick you have no problems. The Solomons trouble is in the capital which makes it hard if you are going to one of the closer islands by boat or staying in Honiara but if you are heading to one of the other islands its usually off one plane and onto another and your out of the troubled area and into somewhere peaceful. I went to Gizo in October 2001 and the Solomons was the second most dangerous place behind Afghanistan according to the Aussie government. We seen one fight the whole time we were there and it was on a friday night in a pub and was 2 local guys fighting over a girl. We get that here only more. It felt a lot safer walking around at night there than it does in most places in Sydney. Take the advice of locals and dont listen to what the press have to say after all the worse they report it the more papers they sell.
Matt