Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali chairs a county executive committee meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Moyale on November 12, 2026. Credit: Mohamud Ali (@GovMohamudAli) on X.
Heavy weapons fire in Ethiopia’s divided border town of Moyale has sent tens of thousands into Kenya, where Marsabit’s governor said on Friday that measles and rubella cases have been confirmed in overcrowded shelters.
Governor Mohamud Ali said a government led rapid needs assessment estimated that more than 50,000 Ethiopians had crossed into Marsabit County and that about 10,000 Kenyans living along the border had fled their own homes, the Daily Nation reported on Friday. A day earlier he had put the number of refugees at about 60,000 as of Thursday morning, the Standard’s TNX Africa site reported. Two people have been killed and more than 20 wounded by stray bullets on the Kenyan side since the fighting broke out on October 18, according to police reports cited by the paper. “Without swift intervention, affected communities face the threat of further disease outbreaks,” the governor said.
In Sessi, Somare, Lami and Heilu, villages on the Kenyan side, artillery shells have landed among homes, and one struck Moyale Hospital without exploding, damaging part of the building and a transformer, the Standard’s TNX Africa site reported. “Our people cannot sleep. The bombing has been so huge and deafening,” Ali told the paper. In late October, County Commissioner Stanley Kamande told the Kenya News Agency that about 15,000 refugees were in camps and 20,000 more were staying with local families, and that they needed blankets, tents, mosquito nets and toilets.
Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali said on Friday that stray bullets had injured 22 Kenyans and that two deaths had been reported, that 10 measles cases had been recorded among the displaced, and that the Kenya Defence Forces had been called in to safely detonate shells that landed in homes without exploding, The Star reported.
On the Ethiopian side, the fighting pits forces linked to the Oromia region against forces and residents linked to the Somali region, after a dispute over the display of the Somali regional flag in October. Accounts on X that support the Somali side said on Friday that Oromia forces had switched to night attacks and were firing rockets at homes, shops, markets and a hospital, and one posted video it said was filmed from Kenya. Mereja Media could not verify these claims, and Oromia officials have accused the other side of attacks.
Bashir Ali, a displaced resident from the Ethiopian side, told the Kenya News Agency in late October that many families had fled without their belongings and urged both governments to protect civilians and end the fighting. Mereja Media found no new statement from the federal government, the Oromia or Somali regional governments by Friday evening. Mereja Media reported on Kenya pressing Ethiopia to calm Moyale.
Sources
- Daily Nation, Stray bullets, attacks drive 10,000 Kenyans from Moyale border homes, Nov 13
- TNX Africa (The Standard), Moyale humanitarian crisis strains county resources, Nov 12
- Kenya News Agency, Some 35,000 Ethiopians seek refuge in Moyale Kenya as conflict escalates, Oct 25
- Dirre Online on X, video from Moyale, Nov 13
- KadarDabeco on X, Nov 13
- Mereja Media, Kenya presses Ethiopia to calm Moyale
- The Star, Governor Mohamud appeals for humanitarian aid as border conflict intensifies, Nov 14