Our fallen colleagues...

The members of SOJANET were forced to flee Somalia or be killed. However, other journalists never had that chance. Below are some of our fallen comrades who were caught in the crossfire in Somalia, or targeted by insurgents for their reporting.

Source: The Committee to Protect Journalists

Barkhat Awale
Hurma Radio
August 24, 2010 in Mogadishu Somalia

Awale, 60, director of the community station Hurma Radio, was on the roof of the station helping a technician fix a transmitter when he was struck in the abdomen by a stray bullet from nearby fighting. His colleagues took him to Madina Hospital, where was pronounced dead.

Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey
Radio Mogadishu
May 4, 2010, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Three gunmen shot Abkey, a veteran Radio Mogadishu journalist, near his home in the southern Mogadishu district of Wardhigley.  Local journalists said Abkey's body, found in an alleyway, also showed evidence of torture.
Journalists at state-run Radio Mogadishu said they had received phone calls from the Al-Shabaab insurgency claiming responsibility for the murder. Radio Mogadishu journalists believed Abkey was killed simply because of his affiliation with the government-run station.

Abdulkhafar Abdulkadir
Freelance
December 3, 2009, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Three journalists were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a Benadir University graduation ceremony in the capital, Mogadishu. In all, the explosion claimed the lives of at least 23 people, including several top government officials, according to news reports. Hassan Zubeyr, a cameraman for Al-Arabiya television, and Mohamed Amin, a Radio Shabelle reporter, were pronounced dead at the scene. Abdulkadir, a freelance photographer, died at a local hospital later in the day.

Minister of Information Dahir Mohamud Gelle told reporters that the suicide bomber was a suspected Al-Shabaab insurgent who was targeting government ministers attending the ceremony at the Hotel Shamo. 

Mohamed AminRadio Shabelle
December 3, 2009, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Amin, a Radio Shabelle reporter, was killed in a suicide bomb attack at a Benadir University graduation ceremony in the capital, Mogadishu. Amin, 24, had worked for Radio Shabelle for just six months. Both of his parents had recently been killed, making him the family’s primary provider.

In the same suicide bombing,  Hassan Zubeyr, a cameraman for Al-Arabiya television, was killed.

Hassan Zubeyr
Al-Arabiya
December 3, 2009, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Zubeyr, 29, was a technician at Radio Shabelle before he left in 2006 to work as a cameraman for Al-Arabiya. Zubeyr was survived by a pregnant wife and four children.

Mohamud Mohamed Yusuf
Radio IQK
July 4, 2009, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Yusuf, 22, was killed in crossfire shortly after presenting the morning news on Radio IQK in northern Mogadishu. Local journalists said the fighting was so intense that Yusuf, hit twice in the stomach, was unattended for roughly three hours. The journalist was eventually taken to Medina Hospital but died from blood loss. Yusuf worked at Radio IQK, a private radio station also referred to as Holy Quran Radio, for three years as a reporter, a presenter, and, occasionally, a producer, the National Union of Somali Journalists reported. He was survived by a wife and three children.

Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe
Radio Shabelle
June 8, 2009, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Hirabe, 48, was shot several times in the head by unidentified gunmen as he and a colleague, Ahmed Omar Hashi, were walking to work in the capital. Hashi, 41, was shot in the stomach and hand but survived. 

A veteran Radio Shabelle reporter, Hirabe took up the role as station director after the former director, Said Tahlil Ahmed, was murdered in February. A popular journalist, Hirabe had led a charity drive to help displaced Somali children in 2006. He was survived by two wives and five children.