MOGADISHU — An explosion in the Somali capital killed a television journalist late on Monday, witnesses and security sources say.
Mohamed Ibrahim Gabow was killed in an explosion from a device fitted to his car, a security official told VOA’s Somali service. Gabow was a news anchor for Kalsan TV, a satellite television channel watched in many parts of Somalia.
Osman Abdullahi Gure, a television manager at Kalsan TV, said Gabow was traveling in his car in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district when the explosion occurred.
“He was badly injured, he died soon after. He was one of our best journalists,” Gure said.
His friend at Kalsan TV, Ismail Haji Abdalla, told VOA that he spoke to Gabow last night and was expecting to meet him Monday night at a coffee shop in the Wadajir district for a chat.
“He was friendly, a quiet person who did not say much to people,” says Abdalla, a producer at Kalsan TV.
Mohamed Ibrahim Gabow is the the fifth journalist killed in Somalia this year. Among those previously killed was freelance cameraman Ali Nur Siad, 31, who died in the massive truck bomb explosion that hit Mogadishu in October while on assignment for VOA.
Siad was working with VOA Somali reporter Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle, who was among those wounded in the attack.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 28 journalists have been murdered in Somalia since 2005.
Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle contributed to this report
