TV Reporter Shot Dead

Mohamed beign treated 

A Somali television journalist who was seriously wounded by gunmen in the capital Mogadishu earlier this week has died, relatives and colleagues said Sunday.

The attack Tuesday on Mohamed Mohamud Timacade, a reporter with London-based Somali-language Universal TV, was the latest on journalists in the conflict-wracked country.

Timacade was shot several times in the neck, chest and shoulder when the attackers sprayed his car with bullets.

“My brother died in the Medina hospital last night (Saturday) from the gunshot wounds. We wish him rest in heaven,” Fadumo Abdirahman told AFP.

Sahro Ise, a local TV journalist, added: "His death touched us all. I visited him a few hours ago and he looked getting better, he was talking to people and could identify them as well.

“Unfortunately, his time ended and he died in the evening,” Ise said.

“We are really shocked by his death but we will not be deterred by this barbaric action aimed at silencing the messengers,” said Farah Abdi, another journalist.

“Every one of us will continue with the struggle,” he added.

The National Union of Somali Journalists issued a statement calling on the Somali government “to end the impunity and bring the killers to book”.

Eighteen media professionals were killed in Somalia in 2012 -- the Horn of Africa country's deadliest year on record, according to Reporters Without Borders -- and more than 50 have been killed in the last six years.

At least seven media workers have been killed this year.

Attacks on journalists are often blamed on Islamist Shebab fighters battling the internationally backed government, but some are also believed to be linked to a settling of scores within the multiple factions in power.