Somali radio journalist gunned down in Mogadishu
Abukar Hassan Mohamoud, a Somali radio journalist, was gunned down in front of his home Tuesday.
A Somali radio journalist, and former head of a private radio station in the country's capital Mogadishu, was gunned down in front of his home Tuesday.
According to the BBC, witnesses said that Abukar Hassan "Kadaf" Mohamoud, who headed Radio Somaliweyn until it was shut down by Islamic militants in 2010, was shot by two men with pistols.
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It was the second murder of a journalist in Mogadishu this year and the 29th since 2007, in a country that is considered one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work, according to Reporters Without Borders.
In January, the head of the Shabelle Media Network, Hassan Osman Abdi, was murdered outside his home by five armed men, wrote the BBC.
Mohamoud had been involved in local politics after his closing the station, which, according to Voice of America, he was attempting to relaunch.
"This murder… is a another tragedy and continues to further undermine freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Somalia," BBC quoted Omar Faruk Osman, secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists, as stating after the murder.
It was not initially clear whether the attack was conducted by Al Shabaab, an Islamist militant group that was ousted from the capital by government and African Union troops last year.
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Al Shabaab recently formalized an alliance with Al Qaida and has stated its intention to make Somalia an Islamist state.