List of journalists killed During the Somali civil war

• This is a list of journalists killed during the Somali civil war.

Overview 

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an estimated 49 radio, print and television reporters operating within Somalia died in the period from the start of the civil war in 1992 to 2013. The CPJ estimated that the majority were locally-based (73%), male (96%), broadcast journalists (45%), worked on the radio (65%), and were non-freelance (82%). Most were assassinated (65%), while covering primarily war (49%) and political stories (55%). A number also received threats prior to their deaths (22%). The sources of fire were largely political action groups (50%), mainly Al-Shabaab; the assailants' affiliations were unknown in only 22% of the cases. As a consequence, the country was described by Al-Jazeera as the most dangerous place in Africa for working journalists.

Early in the conflict, European journalists like Jean-Claude Jumel of France, Dan Eldon of the United Kingdom and Hansi Krauss of Germany were among those slain. The deadliest year for foreign correspondents in general was in 1993, according to the CPJ.^[1] The last foreign journalist to be killed in Somalia was Noramfaizul Mohd Nor of Malaysia, a cameraman with Bermana TV covering a relief operation.

Prior to the capital Mogadishu's pacification by the Somali National Army in mid-2011, the independent Radio Shabelle and HornAfrik, among other Somali media outlets, were frequently targeted by Islamic militants. Among the casualties during this most volatile 2007-2011 period was Ali Iman Sharmarke, one of the founders of HornAfrik, who was killed in his role as director on 11 August 2007.

The Village restaurant in Mogadishu, a popular gathering place for working journalists, shortly after it was attacked by suicide bombers.

Since their ouster, the insurgents have resorted to issuing death threats and targeted assassinations in order to discourage reporting on their activities. Due to frustration at the increasing number of expatriate journalists returning to the capital after the relative improvement in security, the militants in 2012 intensified their anti-media campaign, killing a record 18 reporters during the year.

Jamal Osman, a journalist working for The Guardian (UK) and Channel 4, suggested in an October 2012 editorial that one of the factors behind the spate of killings of media workers in Somalia was graft amongst reporters. This was in sharp contrast to the widely-held belief and CPJ data suggesting that the assassinations and death threats bore the hallmarks of the Islamist extremists. In a formal press statement, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) characterized Osman's editorial as "defamatory and libelous", and suggested that it represented a conscious effort to cast aspersions on the Somali media and was "an attempt to divert the public attention by aiding the real criminals, which could contribute the killing of Somali journalists to continue." The organization further indicated that "more than half of the cases took place in Mogadishu and all have been targeted in line with their profession and the majority of them have been claimed by the Shabab."

Despite the attempted intimidation, news outlets have continued to proliferate, with the number of radio and television stations in Mogadishu rising from 11 to 30 in less than five months. Journalists have also persisted in covering the war beat.

In early February 2013, the government launched an Independent Task Force on Human Rights tasked with investigating allegations of journalist intimidation and violence. Featuring a media representative, the 13-member committee is scheduled to publish a report on its findings and recommended courses of action at the end of its three-month mandate. The Task Force will eventually give way to a permanent parliamentary Human Rights Commission, which will have the capacity to investigate allegations over a longer period.

Journalists killed [edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Date	Name	Location	Notes	Refs
21 April 2013	Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh	Dharkenley district, Mogadishu, Somalia	Journalist for Radio Mogadishu and Somali National Television
14 April 2013	Mohamed Hassan Habeeb	Mogadishu	Journalist acting as a media adviser in a court case
24 March 2013	Rahmo Abdulqadir(a.k.a., Rahma Abdulkadir)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Journalist, Radio Abduwaq (Galgaduud region)
18 March 2013	Mohamed Ali Nuxurkey	Mogadishu, Somalia	Journalist, Radio Mustaqbal
18 January 2013	Abdihared Osman Aden	Mogadishu, Somalia	Producer and journalist, Radio Shabelle
29 October 2012	Warsame Shire Awale	Mogadishu, Somalia	Radio Kulmiye
29 October 2012	Mohamed Mohamud Turyare	Mogadishu, Somalia	Reporter, Radio Shabelle
23 October 2012	Ahmed Farah Ilyas	Las Anod, Somalia	Broadcast reporter, Universal TV
28 September 2012	Ahmed Abdullahi Farah	Dharkenley district, Mogadishu, Somalia	Journalist representing Yemeni news agency
27 September 2012	Abdirahman Mohamed Ali	Suuqa Holaha Market, Huriwa district, Mogadishu, Somalia	Online sports writer for ciyaarahamaanta.com
21 September 2012	Hassan Yusuf Absuge	Yaqshid, Mogadishu, Somalia	Reporter and producer, Radio Maanta
20 September 2012	Liban Ali Nur	Mogadishu, Somalia	Head of News, Somali National TV
20 September 2012	Abdisatar Daher Sabriye	Mogadishu, Somalia	Head of News, Radio Mogadishu and the former chair for theSomali Exiled Journalists Association (SEJASS)
20 September 2012	Abdirahman Yasin Ali	Mogadishu, Somalia	Director, Radio Hamar
16 September 2012	Zakariye Mohamed Mohamud Moallim	Nasib Bundo, Mogadishu, Somalia	Camera operator
12 August 2012	Yusuf Ali Osman(a.k.a. Farey)	Dharkenley district, Mogadishu, Somalia	Former director of Radio Mogadishu
12 August 2012	Mohamud Ali Keyre (a.k.a. Buneyste)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Freelance journalist for Horyaalmedia.com
31 July 2012	Abdi Jaylani Malaq(a.k.a. Marshale)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Producer, Universal TV
24 May 2012	Ahmed Addow Anshur	Dharkenley district, Mogadishu, Somalia	Shabelle Media Network
2 May 2012	Farhan Jeemis Abdulle	Garsoor (near Galkayo), Mudug, Somalia	Radio Daljir, Galkayo
5 April 2012	Mahad Salad Adan(a.k.a. Mahad Jamal)	Beledweyne, Hinan, Somalia	Shabelle Media Network
4 March 2012	Ali Ahmed Abdi	Galkayo, Somalia	Radio Galkayo
28 February 2012	Abukar Hassan Mohamoud (a.k.a. Kadaf)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Director, Radio Somaliweyn
28 January 2012	Hassan Osman Abdi (a.k.a.Hassan Fantastic)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Director, Shabelle Media Network
18 December 2011	Abdisalan Sheik Hassan	Somalia	Horn Cable TV
2 September 2011	Noramfaizul Mohd Nor (Malaysian)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Bernama TV
24 August 2010	Barkhad Awale Adan	Somalia	Director, Hurma Radio
4 May 2010	Sheik Nur Mohamed Abkey	Mogadishu, Somalia	Radio Mogadishu
3 December 2009	Hassan Zubeyr Haji Hassan	Somalia	Camera operator, Al-Arabia TV
3 December 2009	Mohamed Amin Adan Abdulle	Somalia	Radio Shabelle
7 June 2009	Muktar Mohamed Hirabe	Somalia	Director, Radio Shabelle
7 June 2009	Ahmed Omar Hashi	Somalia	Editor, Radio Shabelle
25 May 2009	Nur Muse Hussein	Somalia	Voice of the Holy Quran radio
22 May 2009	Abdirisak Warsameh Mohamed	Somalia	Radio Shabelle
4 February 2009	Said Tahlil Ahmed	Somalia	Director, Horn Afrik Radio/TV
1 January 2009	Hassan Mayow Hassan	Afgoye, Somalia	Radio Shabelle
7 June 2008	Nasteh Dahir Farah	Somalia	A BBC and Associated Press reporter who was also the Vice President of the National Union of Somali Journalists
28 January 2008	Hassan Kafi Hared	Somalia	Somali National News Agency
19 October 2007	Bashir Nur Gedi	Somalia	Chief executive, Shabelle Media network
24 August 2007	Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim Kaskey	Somalia	Radio Banadir
11 August 2007	Mahad Ahmed Elmi	Somalia	Director, Radio Capital Voice
11 August 2007	Ali Iman Sharmarke	Somalia	Managing Director, HornAfrik Radio
16 May 2007	Ahmed Hassan Mahad	Somalia	Radio Jowhar
16 May 2007	Abshir Ali Gabre	Somalia	Editor, Radio Jowhar
5 May 2007	Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif	Somalia	Voice (radio)
23 June 2006	Martin Adler(Swedish)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Aftonbladet
5 June 2005	Duniya Muhiyadin Nur	Afgoye, Somalia	Capital Voice of HornAfrik
9 February 2005	Kate Peyton(British)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Journalist for the BBC's Johannesburg bureau
January 24, 2003	Abdullahi Madkeer	Baidoa, Somalia	Covering the airport reopening for DMC Radio.
26 January 26, 2000	Ahmed Kafi Awale	Bakara market, Mogadishu, Somalia	Radio of the Somali People
9 February 1995	Marcello Palmisano (Italian)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Shot while traveling on airport road while working for RAI.
31 August 1994	Pierre Anceaux(Swiss)	Baidoa, Somalia	Reporting on a charity-run refugee camp.
20 March 1994	Ilaria Alpi (Italian)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Reporting for RAI-3 on illegal toxic waste.
20 March 1994	Miran Hrovatin(Italian)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Reporting for RAI-3 on illegal toxic waste.
12 July 1993	Dan Eldon (British)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Died while covering a US operation before the Battle of Mogadishu (1993). He was working as a journalist forReuters.
12 July 1993	Anthony Macharia(Kenyan)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Died while covering the same operation as Eldon. He was working for Reuters on the sound production.
12 July 1993	Hos Maina(Kenyan)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Died while covering the same operation as Eldon. He was working for Reuters on photography. Fellow Reuters cameraman Mohammed Shaffi survived.
12 July 1993	Hansi Krauss(German)	Mogadishu, Somalia	Died while covering the same operation as Eldon. He was working for the Associated Press.
18 June 1993	Jean-Claude Jumel(French)	Mogadishu, Somalia	He was shot by a sniper while traveling with his TF1 news crew, for which he worked on sound, from the airport.