Nairobi, October 3, 2022 — In response to reports that Somali National TV journalist Ahmed Mohamed Shukur was killed in a bomb attack on Friday, September 30, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:
“Ahmed Mohamed Shukur joins a long list of Somali journalists who have lost their lives while reporting the news, but his case must not become the latest example of a lack of accountability for attacks on the Somali press,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative. “Somalia’s security and judicial organs must do everything possible to ensure a credible investigation into Ahmed Mohamed Shukur’s killing and to deliver justice through a transparent and fair process.”
Ahmed, 26, a camera operator with state-owned Somali National TV (SNTV), was killed in a bomb attack while covering a security operation against Somali militant group al-Shabab in the town of Basra, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the capital Mogadishu, according to SNTV social media posts and a statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate, a local press rights group. Several other people were killed in the attack, including Mogadishu police chief Farhan Mohamud Adan and other security officials, according to those sources and a report by U.S Congress-funded Voice of America.
SJS reported that an improvised explosive device killed Ahmed and the security officials and that the journalist was embedded with the security forces; the Voice of America report said it was a landmine, targeting Farhan. CPJ was unable to verify the type of device used.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the media. At least 71 other journalists have been killed in connection to their work since 1992, according to CPJ research.