Radio journalist assassinated, ASOJ condemns.

Armed gunmen have shot dead a prominent radio journalist Saed Tahlil Ahmed in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Wednesday – Associated Somali Journalists condemned the killing as an act of terrorism against the free press.

Mr. Ahmed, the director of Somalia’s independent Horn Afrik radio has been killed as he was with other radio stations managers near Horn Afrik’s headquarter.

 “This is absolutely an inhuman act aimed to silence the independent media,”said Dahir Alasow, the chairman of Associated Somali Journalists (ASOJ).

Before the killing, the journalists were on the way to a press conference called by the Islamist group of Al-Shabab, a journalist told Waagacusub Media.

Three masked men armed with pistols carried out the killing of the chief radio Ahmed in the main Bakara market where the other journalists escaped from the shooting.

“They stopped us, then they picked and shot Saed Tahlil four times in the chest where he suddenly died, we got shocked and run away,” said one of the journalist who asked no to be named for security reasons.

Horn Afrik radio station went off air soon after the killing of their director.

This comes as the free private media houses in Mogadishu agreed on banning live broadcasting of inciting program of political, social and religious means following crucial meeting in the Quranic Radio center on Tuesday.

Ahmed is the second journalist killed in Somalia this year alone after the execution of Hassan Mayow who was working with Shabelle Media Network.

Suni Saed Salah
Email:Sunninet@gmail.com