freelance
June 7, 2008, in Kismayo, Somalia

Farah, 27, vice president of the National Union of Somali Journalists and a contributor to several local and international news outlets, was shot by two men in Kismayo as he walked home from an Internet café at around 7 p.m., local journalists told CPJ. Farah was rushed to a local hospital but died within minutes from blood loss, the journalist union reported.

In a follow-up report, the union said Farah had been killed by insurgents in reprisal for his work. Farah had been reporting on a conflict over distribution of tax revenue in Kismayo, Abdi Aynte, a correspondent for the BBC, told CPJ.

The slaying came a day after Farah expressed fear for his life amid escalating insecurity in Kismayo. "I do not know if I can work in this hostile environment anymore. I am so scared," Farah told an Agence France-Presse reporter one day before his murder.

The journalist is survived by his wife, who was six months pregnant at the time of the killing, and a son.

Just weeks before his death, Farah contributed a piece to CPJ's magazine, Dangerous Assignments, recounting the killing of Somali National News Agency reporter Hassan Kafi Hared.

Medium:Print, Radio
Job:Broadcast Reporter, Print Reporter
Beats Covered:Politics
Gender:Male
Local or Foreign:Local
Freelance:No
Type of Death:Murder
Suspected Source of Fire:Unknown Fire
Impunity:Yes
Taken Captive:No
Tortured:No
Threatened:No

 

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