Ipswich has seen a spate of incidents involving knives and machetes so far this year.
The summer has seen a series of targeted "tit for tat" attacks involving young men, according to Superintendent Andy Martin of Suffolk police.
The first knife-related incident of the year was back in March, when a 16-year-old boy was attacked by a man with a bladed weapon in Newnham Court in Chantry.
Another victim was stabbed in the back and sides in nearby Hawthorn Drive on May 16.
A section of the town centre was cordoned off by police after a man was stabbed outside the Cock & Pye pub in Upper Brook Street on June 2.
More recently, a man was injured with a machete during a football match at Gainsborough Sports Centre on August 6. A youth court later heard the incident was gang-related.
Police also recovered a machete after a fight in Victoria Street on Monday afternoon, while a man was reportedly seen carrying a knife in the Civic Drive underpass earlier in the day.
Police have said the incidents on Monday afternoon do not appear to be gang-related.
Supt Martin added: "What we're seeing is gangs that are potentially concerned in the supply of drugs locally, feuding with each other over individual issues.
"And as a result of that feud, you quite often get tit for tat retaliation – after one incident occurs, we're quite likely to see the opposing side take action against them."
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