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Kenya, 12 November 2026 - Tensions are high in Moyale, Marsabit County, as Kenyans bear the brunt of ongoing fighting and unrest in parts of Ethiopia close to the border with Kenya.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Minister for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi recently said he was in talks with his Ethiopian counterpart to calm tensions, but locals say the situation on the ground is still deplorable.
“I told him to try and calm the situation in their country so that the refugees return to their homes,” Mudavadi was quoted as saying on 9 November 2026.
Reports state that in Ethiopia, the Somali and Oromo communities are fighting, and the clashes have escalated tensions, with families crossing the border into Kenya to seek refuge. Between 40,000 and 50,000 people are in Moyale, Kenya, to escape death, and they are struggling to survive after being forced to flee. The situation is so dire that humanitarian organisations and residents of northern Kenya are under constant pressure.
As the fighting goes on, there have been incidents in which stray explosives and bullets have crossed into the Kenyan side, injuring and even killing innocent people.
Marsabit County Government Spokesperson Alexander Barrile Abduba on Thursday told reporters that Moyale town has indeed been affected by the ongoing fighting between the Oromo and Somali communities in Ethiopia.
“We as a county that is on the border with Ethiopia have been affected because many Ethiopians have fled to Kenya and the number is now close to 50,000 people,” he said.
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Abduba added that the situation is not good because there are no refugee camps. The incoming groups are being assisted in school compounds, while those with relatives on both sides of the border are being hosted by families.
The county government, under Governor Mohamud Ali, has intervened by first welcoming the refugees, providing food, shelter and bedding, and working with non-governmental organisations.
“We are also thankful because the Kenya Red Cross Society has taken care of these refugees, many of whom are children and women,” he said.
He added that national government institutions, including the Defence Forces, continue to assist, and that the Department of Disaster Management is helping to contain the situation.
At least three people on the Kenyan side have died after weapons fired from the Ethiopian side landed near Moyale town. One victim was a woman who had sought assistance from county offices and died when a bullet pierced her body. Another was an elderly man hit by a bomb. Two more bombs that failed to explode have since been safely detonated by Kenyan soldiers.
The current wave of unrest erupted in October over what was described as the raising of a regional flag in a contested section of Moyale town on the Ethiopian side, with the Somali community now fighting the Oromo community and Oromia regional forces. It was not immediately established which side was the first aggressor.
For decades, however, the conflict between these neighbouring communities has stemmed from unresolved internal administrative boundaries drawn along ethnic lines, political control of jointly administered towns such as Moyale, and competition over scarce grazing land and water.