Fighting in southern Ethiopia: Tens of thousands flee to Kenya

One Red Cross truck, pulled out of the mud, is a small step Good, very nice. towards bringing the help needed by the tens of thousands of people forced from their homes. They fled fighting between forces of the Oromia and Somali region's authorities in the town of Moyale in Ethiopia. Asha Lama says six-month-old Shamsia has been hungry and unwell since she fled to this makeshift camp in a school on the Kenyan side of the town. She told us she hasn't seen her husband since the day she ran for her life last week. By this time, I should have heard from him. It's not normal and it's not safe. I am worried. Every night, a few more people escape the fighting under the cover of darkness. Some of the new arrivals told us they've seen bodies on the streets. They gather on a roundabout in the town centre near the border. 17-year-old Taraf Attar comes from a farming community about 400 kilometres away. Like many here, drawn to the town's trade. The conflict here between fighters from the two herding communities is not his. That didn't stop him being shot in the leg. He's struggling to even ask for help. Hardly anyone here speaks his language, Konso. So. I came here from home in the morning, looking for work the day that the fighting started. I tried to go home, but there was heavy gunfire. I was shot in the leg trying to run away. Back at the camp, a few fires have to feed thousands. Patience is wearing thin. Mealtimes have become tense. People here have been waiting for their first meal of the day since sunrise. Now it's the middle of the afternoon, it's hot in the sun. The crowd of men moving towards the kitchen area have been pushed back by the police. They're trying to feed the women and the children first. The Red Cross says they're trying to give people two meals a day. Everyone here says... That they're barely getting one. Thank you very much. Thank you. The fight for territorial control isn't theirs. I'm starting to speak now. The hunger is. Malcolm Webb, Al Jazeera, Moyale, Kenya.