U.S. condemns murder of Somali journalist

The United States on Tuesday strongly condemned the killing of a Somali journalist by al-Shabab in Afgoye town, about 30 km southwest of Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu.

The U.S. embassy in Mogadishu regretted the Sunday killing of Abduwali Ali Hassan, a freelance journalist working for Radio Kulmiye and Universal TV by the militants.

“By targeting and killing media workers whose job is to educate and inform Somalis, al-Shabab is bent on silencing the voices of Somali people,” said the embassy in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

Hassan was attacked by two gunmen who shot him in the head with three bullets as he was returning home from work.