New York, US - A staff of a Somali radio station has been killed in the restive Bakara Market in the capital, Mogadishu, media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. CPJ said in a statement received by PANA on Saturday that the logistics manager and driver for Radio Simba, Farah Hassan Sahal, died from bullet wounds early on Thursday evening just outside the station’s compound. It quoted Radio Simba Director Abdullahi Ali Farah as saying Hassan, 45, was helping the station move damaged radio equipment when a sniper shot him three times. He is survived by his wife and five children.

Farah said the shots came from an area of the market controlled by African Union (AU) forces, adding that local journalists suspected that the forces may have mistaken Hassan for one of the insurgent gunmen in Al-Shabaab.

CPJ said Al-Shabaab insurgents, government and AU forces had been using buildings near the market to attack one another in a week-long offensive to take control of the area.

“CPJ calls on both sides of the conflict to use all means possible to avoid civilian casualties, including media staff,” said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. “African Union forces must make an immediate inquiry into this tragic incident.”

The Interim Transitional Government of Somalia, combined with AU forces, has fought a protracted war with Al-Shabaab insurgents since late 2006.

Although Al-Shabaab controls large swathes of the country, the government gained new territory in Mogadishu this year, including most of the militant group’s former stronghold in Bakara Market.

The fighting has recently led to tens of thousands of famine refugees moving into relief camps in the capital.

Radio Simba has been off the air for three days, Farah said, after shells hit the transmitter antenna of the station.

They hope to start rebroadcasting from Bakara Market once the heavy shelling stops since they lack the funds to move to a safer location, he aded.

CPJ said Radio Simba is one of the few media groups still operating in the volatile area. Radio Shabelle, for instance, moved out of the area last year in an attempt to save the station from Al-Shabaab control, Abdimaalik Yusuf, chairman of Radio Shabelle, told CPJ.

In April, Radio Simba sports reporter, Ahmed Hassan, sustained bullet injuries from crossfire while covering a football game in Mogadishu.

Hassan managed to survive a stomach and shoulder injury after colleagues rushed him to Medina Hospital. Last year, a stray bullet killed Barkhat Awale, director of Hurma Radio, while he was helping a technician fix a transmitter on the roof of the station.

Pana 07/082011