More than 14,000 Ethiopians have fled deadly fighting in southern Ethiopia into neighbouring Kenya, humanitarian officials said, amid fears that clashes between rival communities have killed more than a dozen people.
"We urgently need more well-wishers to support us with food and water. There is also a need for sanitary supplies and more toilets to avert diarrhoeal diseases," Malik Adan, Kenya Red Cross head of the Upper Eastern region, told reporters on Saturday.
The Kenya Red Cross said more than 10,900 displaced people were being accommodated at six temporary camps in the Kenyan border town of Moyale, while another 4,000 were staying with relatives and host families.
The figures mark a sharp increase from Friday, when Marsabit County Commissioner Stanley Kamande said more than 2,000 Ethiopians had crossed into Kenya following the outbreak of violence on Wednesday.
Residents reported on social media that heavy gunfire and shelling continued from both sides of the conflict, leaving Kenya as the only refuge for many civilians fleeing the violence.
The fighting involves Oromo and Somali communities in Ethiopia's southern border region, where a dispute over the display of the Somali Regional State flag in an area administered by Oromia has fuelled tensions. Both are federal regions of Ethiopia.
At least nine deaths were reported on Friday, but there are fears that more than a dozen people may have been killed as heavy fighting continues, according to humanitarian officials.
The Kenya Red Cross has distributed tents, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential supplies while providing nutritional assistance to children and breastfeeding mothers.
Local authorities have pledged additional food supplies, including rice and beans, but humanitarian officials warn that available resources may not meet the needs of the growing displaced population.
Moyale, a major crossing between the two East African countries, lies approximately 780 kilometres north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, and 775 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, by road.
The continued fighting has disrupted cross-border trade and raised concerns about further displacement.
