On 20th of September 2012 it was very dark day for the Somali journalist when two sucide attacks were targeted with Somali journalists that gathered in a “The Village restaurant “, the attack claimed the lives of almost 3 journalists namely: – Liibaan Ali Noor of government owed radio station, Abdisatar Daahir Sabriye of government owned radio station, Abdirahmaan Yasin of local radio station called VOD, another 7 journalist were wounded in the same attack in the sunset. During the night the whole situation was like a ghost, every journalist slept with a heart-aching fear. The day broke out and journalists were asking each other what is the next step, after five hours here comes sad and shocking news when Hassan Yusuf Absuge gunned down by the same anonymous killers making him the 4th journalist to be killed within 24 hours.
It took me 48 hours to think about why are the journalist being targeted and all I could find out was:1-  Little ignorance in both the journalists and the anonymous killers:  The importance of both the safety of journalists and the fight against impunity is one of the most critical issues to be addressed to the Somali journalists because journalists in Somalia seem not be aware of “how to be safe and report the truth “I personally would suggest to the journalism organizations all over the world to hold seminars about How to be safe in the field of journalism.

2- Dirty interest of Somali anonymous figures:   The threats to the media in Somalia come from all sides – there are powerful politicians in power battles with each other, there is the notorious armed group al-Shabab and even wealthy businessmen can mean danger.

3-  The entire security is a fragile:  The country was in turmoil within the latest 21 years after the collapse of the Somali central state lead by Mohamed Siad barre after which the civil war broke out in the country.  But the most interesting story is about the government of Somalia who never handled with any case concerning the killings of journalists but only condemn and also the united nations which only condemns violence against journalists and calls on its Member States to uphold their obligations to prevent, investigate, and punish crimes against journalists.

Many journalists were killed while covering dangerous assignments or reporting on corruption, organized crime and other illegal activities. As a consequence of these attacks many journalists have been forced to resort to self-censorship in an effort to protect themselves rather than lose their lives. In other cases, large numbers of journalists have found themselves in prison, with many others forced to flee their countries.
But the Somali journalists seem too committed to sort out the thirst of news in the Somali society. And that fragile media environment has not stemmed the growth of the media sector or discouraged young journalists from entering the field.

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Sayidali Yasin Sheik
Senior Somali journalist and activist
Sayidcali13@gmail.com