Somali journalist dies from shooting injuries

Mohamed Mohamud Tima-ade is the latest journalist murdered in one of the world’s most dangerous places for the media.

Family and friends pray at the funeral of Mohamed Mohamud Tima-ade [Reuters]

A Somali journalist has died in hospital after being shot six times by unknown gunmen on his way to work this week, a colleague said, making him the seventh journalist to be murdered in the country this year.

Mohamed Mohamud Tima-ade, who worked for the privately-owned UK-based Universal TV, was shot in the chest, neck and shoulder in the capital Mogadishu on October 22. 

This impunity cannot continue. We call on the Somali government to bring the killers to justice. Killers must face justice.

by Mohamed Ibrahim, National Union of Somali Journalists

Tima-ade was the Mogadishu correspondent for the television station, which is the most-watched Somali channel worldwide.

“We are deeply saddened, completely shocked by the loss of our dear colleague and friend. May he rest in peace,” Ali Naji, a colleague of Tima-ade, told Al Jazeera.

Tima-ade was buried in Mogadishu on Sunday. 

Somalia is considered the most dangerous country in Africa for journalists. Last year, 18 media workers were killed in the Horn of Africa country, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

“This impunity cannot continue. We call on the Somali government to bring the killers to justice. Killers must face justice,” Mohamed Ibrahim, secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists, told Al Jazeera.

The government was quick to condemn the attack on Sunday after Tima-ade’s death.

“Government won’t tolerate any violence against journalists.There must be no impunity for these cowardly thugs who want to take Somalia backwards,” Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said on his Twitter account.

There have been no arrests over the deaths of the seven journalists killed this year and no one has claimed responsibility.

Follow Hamza Mohamed on Twitter: @hamza_africa

Source: Al Jazeera