UK advises against all but essential travel to Moyale Town in Kenya

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against all but essential travel to Moyale Town in northern Kenya and up to 5km around it, including the border with Ethiopia. The change went into its Kenya travel advice on 6 November.

The update note on the FCDO page lists two changes: the new Moyale advice, and updated information about the Kenya–Ethiopia border on the "Warnings and insurance" and "Regional risks" pages. The page was marked as current on 7 November.

The Regional risks page says violence in the Ethiopian town of Moyale since October has affected the border area on the Kenyan side too, with "stray gunfire, unexploded ordnance and projectiles landing in and up to 3km around the Kenyan town of Moyale". It reports disruption at the Moyale border crossing and says the security situation "could deteriorate without warning".

Travellers crossing at Moyale are told to stay alert to developments and follow the instructions of local authorities. Vehicles should stay on the A2 road and travel directly to Marsabit before breaking their journey. The FCDO also tells travellers to check its Ethiopia advice before crossing.

Moyale is listed on the Warnings and insurance page under "Kenya-Somalia border and northern parts of the east coast". It sits in the all-but-essential-travel group, alongside Garissa Town, Tana River County north of the Tana River as far as the town of Saka, and the area within 15km of the east coast between the Tana River and the Galana (Athi-Galana-Sabaki) River.

The update note records no change to the stricter group. The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Mandera County; to Tarbaj and Wajir East constituencies in Wajir County, except for Wajir Town; and to areas of Wajir County within 60km of Kenya's border with Somalia.

The same group covers Garissa County, except for Garissa Town, the constituency of Lagdera and the areas of Balambala constituency that lie north and west of the main road running from Saka on the Tana River up to the intersection with the C81 Road. It also covers Lamu County, except for Lamu Island and Manda Island.

On the Ethiopian side, the FCDO's Ethiopia page, updated on 30 October, advises against all travel within 10km of the border with Kenya, except the Addis Ababa–Moyale road and Moyale, where it advises against all but essential travel.

The Star reported on 6 November that the UK issued the warning in light of cross-border violence that has caused deaths and injuries and displaced thousands. The fighting began on 22 October in Ethiopia, and the advisory keeps existing warnings on northern and eastern Kenya over the threat of al-Shabaab terrorism.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja ordered additional officers to Moyale on 5 November to strengthen surveillance and stop the violence spilling into Kenya. Kanja said two women, one Kenyan and one Ethiopian, died after being hit by stray bullets and several others were injured. He said about 10,000 displaced people remain in temporary shelters and public institutions around Moyale.

"The best way to address this situation is to ensure the conflict is resolved quickly," Kanja said.

The fighting has disrupted cross-border trade, the movement of goods and the electricity supply to Moyale, which depends heavily on power from Ethiopia.