The Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists [NUSOJ] Omar Faruk Osman narrowly survived a drive-by shooting while on his way to NUSOJ’s main office in Mogadishu on Tuesday.
Unidentified gunmen traveling in a small car blocked Mr. Faruk’s way and then shot several bullets into his car. This was apparently an assassination attempt on the Secretary’s life, but he was protected by his bodyguards who exchanged fire with the attackers.
Sources close to NUSOJ indicate that Omar Faruk escaped unharmed, although one of his bodyguards and two civilians were wounded in the attack.
The brutal attack comes a day after the NUSOJ boss denounced a controversial media law passed by the Somali parliament on Monday.
The media law drawn up by the government’s ministry of information includes some articles which the NUSOJ Boss said threaten media freedom in Somalia, calling on the Somali president not to sign the controversial media bill.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to work in the world and it is only NUSOJ which lobbies for better rights for journalists and freedom of expression in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
