By Asha Elmi - Editor-in-Chief
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DJIBOUTI, 8 November 2026 – Djibouti's government said it had eliminated the causes of repeated fires at Ambouli cemetery on the outskirts of the capital in recent weeks, following a large-scale cleaning and security operation.
The state news agency ADI reported on Saturday that the cemetery, estimated to cover more than 700,000 square metres, stretches from the Ambouli district through Djebel.
"We have eliminated the various factors that contributed to the repeated fires," Minister of Muslim Affairs and Waqf Properties Moumin Hassan Barreh told Radio-Television of Djibouti (RTD).
"Our top concern is to preserve this place where our parents rest and to restore its sacred character," he said.
Barreh said the operation, carried out on the instructions of President Ismail Omar Guelleh, cleared thick vegetation that helped fires spread and removed homeless people who had been squatting in the area and, he said, turning it into a dump.
He thanked the institutions involved in the operation, led by the Ministry of the Interior, and urged residents to work with authorities to keep the cemetery clean and secure.
ADI did not say what caused the fires or whether there was any damage.