Hundreds of Ethiopians, mostly women and children, have crossed into Kenya to escape fighting in the border town of Moyale. The violence reportedly began when loyalists publicly raised the flag of the neighbouring, majority-Somali regional state.
Kenyan police said on Thursday that the refugees entered through several points in Moyale, including Sessi, Kore, Biashara, Foundation and Miti. They said the people were fleeing tensions between leaders of Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regional states, and reported gunfire and chaotic scenes in the town.
Ethiopian media reported that the fighting began on Sunday as a dispute over raising the Somali Regional State flag. It then escalated into clashes between forces from the Oromia and Somali regions.
The Kenya Red Cross said it was setting up temporary shelter and distributing essential items, including cereal and porridge flour. “The response will initially reach 1,000 households,” it said in a statement on Thursday. Experts are assessing how many people are affected and what they need.
The clash is hundreds of kilometres from the larger conflict in northern Tigray, where government forces are fighting a rebel alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
