Somalia: Fourth journalist killed since year began

Unidentified gunmen have brutally murdered a Somalian radio journalist. Mahad Salad Aden, a well known and well respected journalist for Shabelle Media Network, was murdered on 5 April at around 5.30pm by a group of masked men. This attack is the fourth of its kind against journalists affiliated with the Shabelle Media Network, and Adan is the fourth journalist to be killed in Somalia this year. Shabelle Media believe that such attacks are carried out by “certain groups across the warring factions in Somalia” in an attempt to force the network to serve their political objectives.

Somalia: Journalist shot dead in Galkayo

A Somalian journalist has been shot dead by gunmen. Ali Ahmed Abdi who worked for a Somali news website was shot in the head several times by masked men as he walked home on Sunday evening in the northern town of Galkayo. Until recently, Abdi had been working for the privately owned Galkayo Radio. Abdi is the third Somalian journalist to be killed this year. On Saturday, a media director in Puntland was arrested and detained following the closure of radio station Radio Voice of Peace. Officials did not give motive for Ali’s arrest, nor the shutting down of the radio station.

Somalia: Radio journalist murdered

A radio journalist has been shot dead by two unidentified men in Somalia. Abukar Hassan Mohamoud, nicknamed Kadaf,  was the manager of Mogadishu-based radio Somaliweyn. Mohamoud was shot five times in the head and chest at his home in Mogadishu on 28 February. Mohamoud, who had been trying to relaunch the radio station which had been shut down by an extremist group in May 2010, died from his injuries in hospital soon after the attack.

Somalia: Media network director gunned down outside home

The director of a media group has become the first journalist to be killed in Somalia in 2012. Shabelle Media Network director Hassan Osman Abdi was shot outside his home in Mogadishu at 6.30pm on Saturday. Five gunmen shot the father of three in the head and chest as he returned from work. The shooting is believed to be connected to the network’s recent radio coverage of government corruption. Abdi is the first journalist to be killed in 2012 in Somalia, and the third Shabelle Media Network director to be murdered, following Bashir Nur Gedi in 2007 and Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe in 2009.