Nine killed in Ethiopia border town fighting as thousands flee into Kenya
Fighting between Oromo and Somali groups in Ethiopia's Moyale has killed at least nine and sent 2,500+ fleeing into Kenya, where the Red Cross is setting up emergency shelter.
NAIROBI — Fighting in the southern Ethiopian border town of Moyale has killed at least nine people over the past few days, an official at a local hospital said, while at least 2,500 people have fled across the border into Kenya.
Local residents say the fighting in the Ethiopian town of Moyale — which sits opposite a Kenyan settlement of the same name — erupted on Wednesday after clashes between the Oromo and Somali ethnic groups. Gunfire could still be heard on Friday.
A hospital official on the Ethiopian side of the border told Reuters that about 30 injured people had been brought to the hospital over the past few days, mostly injured by “heavy weapons”. Four of them died on Thursday and five on Friday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Images on social media verified by Reuters showed a bulldozer burning at a nearby petrol station and people toppling fuel-dispensing equipment.
Stanley Kamande, the county commissioner of Marsabit on the Kenyan side of the border, said at least 2,500 displaced people from Ethiopia were staying in the Kenyan town of Moyale. The Kenya Red Cross said it was sending humanitarian supplies to the displaced families, with an initial response reaching 1,000 households, and was setting up a temporary shelter with tents, blankets and food.
Violence spilled across the border on Friday: a Kenyan police report seen by Reuters said a stray bullet had lodged in the neck of a local woman in Kenya’s Moyale. The bullet was removed and she is in a stable condition.
The Kenyan side of Moyale remained calm, though police were on high alert after several incidents involving stray bullets.
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