IPI condemns the suicide attack that took the lives of six people, including two top Somali sports officials, and seriously wounded 10 Somali journalists, according to reports.
A suicide bomber blew up the newly re-opened national theatre in Somali’s troubled capital Mogadishu during a ceremony that was meant to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Somali National Television, reports say. The head of the Somali football federation, Said Mohamed Mugambe, and the head of the country’s Olympic committee, Adan Hagi Yabarow Wish, were among the six victims, according to CNN.
According to a report from the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), the names of the victims of the wounded journalists were: Saleiban Sheik Ismail, Ahmed Ali Kahiye, Ms. Deeqo Mohamed Ahmed, Ms. Hamdi Muhumad Hassan, Sa’id Warsame Shuuriyaako, Mohamed Shariif, Ms. Ayaan Abdulle Guure, Mikail Hassan Ali, Abdulkadir Mohamed Hassan and Hassan Salah, who were there on behalf of various local and national Somali news networks.
The journalists received shrapnel and burn wounds of varying severity, according to NUSOJ, whose executives reportedly donated blood for the wounded at the hospital.
“Our condolences go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this barbaric attack,” said IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi, “This violent assault, which took place at an event celebrating the anniversary of Somali National Television, again underscores the every day dangers that journalists working in Somalia face.”
Three journalists have lost their lives in Somalia so far this year, making it the deadliest country in Africa and the second deadliest country in the world for journalists, according to the IPI Death Watch.