Radio Hamar
September 20, 2012, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Abdirahman, director of Radio Hamar, was among three journalists killed in a suicide bomb attack in a Mogadishu café, according to news reports and local journalists.

Two unidentified men entered The Village café at around 5:30 p.m. and detonated bombs, killing a total of 14 people and injuring 20, according to news reports and local journalists. Four journalists were among the wounded.

Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for Al-Shabaab, said the bombing was carried out by supporters of the militant insurgent group, according to Agence France-Presse. "We did not directly order the attacks, but there are lots of angry people in Somalia who support our fight," AFP quoted Ali as saying.

The café was frequented by the press and civil servants, leading local journalists to speculate that they were the targets of the attack. "If anyone wanted to kill journalists en masse, that was the place and the time," said one journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

The blast also killed Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, head of news for Radio Mogadishu, and Liban Ali Nur, head of news for Somali National TV, according to news reports and local journalists.

The attack took place across the street from the National Theater, where a bomb blast in April 2010 wounded at least 10 journalists, news reports said.

Medium:Radio
Job:Editor
Beats Covered:Culture, Human Rights, Politics
Gender:Male
Local or Foreign:Local
Freelance:No
Type of Death:Murder
Suspected Source of Fire:Political Group
Impunity:Yes
Taken Captive:No
Tortured:No
Threatened:No

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