Radio reporter Abdiaziz Ahmed Aden had been sent to the capital to report on ongoing military operations against Al-Shabaab militants.
(NUSOJ/IFEX) – The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the ghastly suicide bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 4 October 2011 that killed at least 100 people, and wounded more than 100 others. Among the dead is a radio journalist.
Abdiaziz Ahmed Aden, who worked as a reporter and newscaster for Radio Markabley, in the Gedo region’s Bardhere district, in southwest Somalia, was killed in the suicide bomb attack. His whereabouts were initially unknown, until his family members arrived in Mogadishu and identified him, confirming his death.
Radio Markabley, a privately-owned media outlet and the only radio station in the Gedo region, said that the journalist was 24 years old and joined the station in February 2011. Aden was dispatched to the capital, Mogadishu, on 30 September to report on ongoing military operations against Al-Shabaab militants.
In the attack that killed Aden, a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with bombs to an area occupied by government ministries and crashed into a security barrier. The attack represents the deadliest single bombing by Al-Shabaab since its insurgency began.
“We condemn this barbaric act by the militant group Al-Shabaab, which resulted in a needless loss of lives through the targeting of innocent civilians,” said NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman.
“The loss of Abdiaziz Ahmed Aden is a tragedy for his family and friends as well as his colleagues. His death further underscores the great dangers facing Somali journalists who put their lives on the line to provide vital news about Somalia and its bloody conflict. Aden travelled from Bardhere town, which is 490 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu, to report in this dangerous city,” added Osman.
