Fighting in Moyale, Ethiopia: at least 10,000 people displaced
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kenyans.co.ke
Fighting intensified overnight on 13 November in Moyale, on the Ethiopian side, between regional forces from Oromia and the Somali region, according to Kenyans.co.ke, which reviewed videos of burning houses. At least 10,000 residents have left their homes, while stray bullets and rockets are reaching residential neighbourhoods on the Kenyan side of the border.
Fighting between forces from the Oromia and Somali regions of Ethiopia intensified on Friday 13 November on the Ethiopian side of Moyale, a border town with Kenya, according to Kenyans.co.ke. Houses were hit by heavy artillery, and fires were reported in Chatara and other areas. At least 10,000 residents have left their homes, while Ethiopian refugees continue to arrive in the area.
Police said two more people had died on the Kenyan side after the shelling, while the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) are intensifying their operations and on Friday detonated twelve unexploded rockets that had landed in Moyale. At least 22 people have been wounded by stray bullets from Ethiopia, and at least 12 killed on both sides of the border, according to Kenyans.co.ke. Hospital officials in Ethiopia told Reuters that at least nine people had died of injuries from heavy weapons in the first days of the fighting, and Ethiopian authorities have not yet published an updated official toll.
The clashes were triggered in mid-October by a dispute over a regional office and a flag. Fighting between Somali and Oromia had already left five dead at the end of October.
