Taiwan Market, the largest market in Jijiga, the administrative capital of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, was engulfed in a fire on Friday night.

The local community has described this incident as devastating and drew a comparison to the previous burning of the Waaheen market in Somaliland last year. A resident in Jigjiga City stated, “This calamity can be likened to the tragic incident that occurred at the Waaheen market in Hargeysa, Somaliland, in April of the preceding year.”

While millions of properties were destroyed, fortunately, no fatalities or serious injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

Efforts to extinguish the fire were hindered by delayed arrival of firefighting engines dispatched from Hargeisa, Dirdhabe, and Haraae.

Nighttime fires in markets located in Somali-dominant areas have become increasingly frequent, although the causes of these fires remain unknown.

Last year in March, a similar inferno engulfed another major market in Jigjiga, wreaking havoc and causing significant financial losses.

In April of the same year, Somaliland’s largest market, Waaheen, fell victim to a devastating blaze, reducing it to ashes under the cloak of darkness.