Ethnic clashes in southern Ethiopia have forced more than 2,000 people to flee across the border into neighboring Kenya, with at least nine deaths reported as violence continued, officials said Friday.
Stanley Kamande, commissioner of Kenya’s Marsabit County, said thousands of Ethiopians had crossed into the border town of Moyale after armed clashes broke out on the Ethiopian side of the frontier on Wednesday.
Reports from Ethiopia said at least nine people had been killed and dozens wounded in the fighting. The casualty figures could not be independently verified.
The violence involves ethnic Oromo and Somali communities following tensions over the display of the Somali Regional State flag in an area administered by Ethiopia’s Oromia region.
Both are federal regions of Ethiopia, distinct from the neighboring country of Somalia, which shares borders with Ethiopia and Kenya.
A woman in Moyale was also reportedly injured by a bullet fired from across the border and received medical treatment.
Kenya mobilizes humanitarian assistance
The Kenya Red Cross said Thursday it was providing emergency assistance to displaced families, initially targeting 1,000 households.
The organization said it was working with government authorities to provide temporary shelter, food, clean water and other essential supplies.
Moyale, a major border crossing between the two East African countries, lies 780 kilometers (485 miles) north of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, and 775 kilometers (482 miles) south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
The unrest has raised concerns about further displacement and disruption to cross-border trade.