Hundreds of Ethiopians have crossed into Kenya fleeing fighting in the border town of Moyale, Kenyan police said on Thursday. The people crossing were mostly women and children, and they entered through several points in Moyale, including the Sessi, Kore, Biashara, Foundation and Miti areas, according to the police account reported by Al Jazeera.

Source: Al Jazeera

Kenyan police said the people were fleeing tensions between leaders of Ethiopia's Oromia and Somali regional states, and reported gunfire and chaotic scenes in Moyale. Ethiopian media reported that the fighting started as a dispute over the raising of the flag of the Somali Regional State, a regional state in eastern Ethiopia, on Sunday, and then escalated into fighting between forces from the Oromia and Somali regions.

Aid response on the Kenyan side

The Kenya Red Cross said it was setting up temporary shelter and distributing essential items including cereal and porridge flour. "The response will initially reach 1,000 households," the Kenya Red Cross said in a statement on Thursday. It added that experts were conducting an assessment to work out how many people were affected and what their needs were.

Source: Kenya Red Cross via Al Jazeera

No confirmed casualty figure for the Moyale fighting was given in Thursday's reporting, and Awaaz Punjab is not publishing any toll until an official or hospital source confirms one. The regional clash is hundreds of kilometres away from the larger conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region between government forces and a rebel alliance led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, Al Jazeera noted.