Deadly fighting between Ethiopian Somali and Oromo armed forces over Moyale has driven around 50,000 people into Kenya, local authorities say. UNHCR is sheltering at least 11,000 in temporary sites, and the Kenyan Red Cross says stray bullets killed three people in Kenya and wounded 20.
Deadly clashes between armed forces in southern Ethiopia have driven tens of thousands into neighbouring Kenya, with no clear date for a safe return, AFP reported via Africanews on 5 November. Ethiopian Somali and Oromo forces have been fighting over control of Moyale since about 18 October, driving around 50,000 people across the border, according to local authorities. Conflict monitor ACLED has recorded several deaths; the exact toll remains hard to establish.
"The fighting just won't stop, it's going on daily. Many people are fleeing. People are dying," Beshir Dadie Tufa, 51, a father of three missing children who fled Ethiopia, told AFP. At least 11,000 displaced people, mainly women and children, are sheltering in temporary sites, mostly schools, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Others are hosted by local communities in a Kenyan county where two-thirds of residents already live below the poverty line.
"We could see lots of dead bodies along the way," said Halima Hussein, 28, a mother of three who fled Ethiopia and also has family members missing. "We have suffered; our houses were torched, we have no food," she added. AFP journalists on the Kenyan side of the border could still hear heavy artillery fire. The Kenyan Red Cross said stray bullets had killed three people in Kenya and wounded 20 others. "There's nobody left in that area, only the gunmen... exchanging bullets," Beshir said.
Federal focus elsewhere
Borders between Ethiopia's regions, drawn under the 1991 constitution, are frequent flashpoints. Edward Bach, an Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, warned that the federal government's focus on fighting in Tigray had neglected the southern conflict. "This has exacerbated the clashes and facilitated the steady deterioration," Bach said. Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, is grappling with multiple armed conflicts along state borders.
Image: The Kenya–Ethiopia highway near the Moyale border corridor. David Stanley, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.