Mogadishu (AX) — At least nine people have died and thousands have been forced from their homes after violence between Oromo and Somali communities in the Ethiopian border town of Moyale, Reuters reported Friday. More than 2,500 people have crossed into neighboring Kenya.
The clashes followed a dispute over the hoisting of the Somali Regional State flag in Kebele 02, a contested area claimed by both Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regional states.
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Local reports said tensions erupted on Oct. 18, when members of the two communities confronted one another, leaving several people dead or wounded.
One of those killed was 13-year-old Diqqoo Jaataan Aagaa, who reportedly died during the first outbreak of violence.
Accounts of how the girl was killed remain disputed. Some local sources alleged that Somali regional police shot her, while others said she was caught in crossfire. Neither version has been independently confirmed.
A health official at a Moyale hospital told Reuters on Oct. 23 that nearly 30 injured people had been admitted over several days.
The official said four people died on Thursday and five more on Friday, raising the reported death toll to nine.
Parts of the town also reportedly saw homes burned, while transport services, businesses and hotels were disrupted. Many residents stayed inside, fearing that the fighting could resume.
Stanley Kamande, whom Reuters identified as a Kenyan official in Marsabit County, said at least 2,500 Ethiopians had entered Kenya and sought refuge in the Kenyan border town of Moyale.
Kenyan police separately reported that a woman was hit in the neck by a stray bullet that crossed the international border. She was in stable condition after receiving medical care.
The Kenya Red Cross began arranging emergency support for displaced families and initially planned to assist about 1,000 households.
Moyale, a town divided by the Ethiopia-Kenya border, has a history of recurring tensions involving communities in Oromia’s Borana area and Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State.
Conflicts over administrative borders, political representation and territorial control have periodically fueled violence between communities in the region.
Local reports said Ethiopian federal security forces moved in to contain the latest fighting and re-establish order.
The precise number of casualties and displaced people remains uncertain, and authorities have not yet provided a definitive account of what sparked the clashes.
