Amun Abdullahi Mohammed (Somali: Amuun Cabdulaahi Maxamed Koraaye, Arabic: أمون عبدالله ; 23 October 1974 – 19 October 2024) was a Somali-Swedish journalist and founder of a girls' school in Mogadishu, Somalia.[1] She was murdered by an unidentified group of masked men who were believed to be members of Al-Shabaab in the Shabelle region capital city of Afgooye.[2]
Amun Abdullahi | |
---|---|
Amuun Cabdulaahi Koraaye | |
Born | Mogadishu, Somalia | 23 October 1974
Died | 19 October 2024 Lower Shabelle, Afgoye, Somalia | (aged 49)
Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
Citizenship | Somali and Swedish |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1991–2024 |
Employer(s) | SR International and Sveriges Radio |
Organization(s) | Somali Youth Center, Rinkeby |
Awards | 2010: Swedish Publicists' Association Freedom of Speech prize in memory of Anna Politkovskaya |
Biography
editAmun Abdullahi grew up in Somalia and came in the 1990s to Sweden as a refugee. In Sweden, she lived first in Umeå, then Stockholm's Rinkeby district, and finally Kista, before moving back to Mogadishu.
In Stockholm, she worked for SR International, and made several high-profile reports broadcast on Sveriges Radio. Among other things, she revealed in 2009 that a leader of a youth center in Rinkeby recruited young people to the Somali Islamist militia al-Shabab.[3]
She had been both physically and intellectually attacked and repeatedly threatened due to her work. She claimed that Sweden is "more dangerous than Mogadishu" for a journalist who wants to tell the truth.[4][5]
Death
editOn 19 October 2024, at the age of 49, Amun Abdullahi was assassinated by an unidentified masked group of men who were believed to be Al-Shabaab while staying at her farmhouse near Afgooye in the Lower Shabelle region.[6][7] The perpetrators escaped after the killing.[8]
Awards
edit- 2010: Swedish Publicists' Association Freedom of Speech prize in memory of Anna Politkovskaya.[9]
References
edit- ^ 𝕯𝖗. 𝐗𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐆 (21 October 2024). "Tragedy in Afgoye: The Murder of Amun Abdulahi a Visionary Somali Agriculturalist". Idil News. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ "Swedish-Somali journalist killed in Somalia". Sweden Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ "From Somali refugee to Swedish reporter". torontosun. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
- ^ Somali Journalist: PC-Media makes Sweden "more dangerous than Mogadishu", retrieved 1 October 2022
- ^ Larsson, Erik (21 October 2024). "Tidigare SR-journalist mördad i Somalia". Reportrar utan gränser (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Ismail, Mona (21 October 2024). "Uppgifter: Marktvist bakom mordet på Amun Abdullahi". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Ali, Abdullahi Mohamoud (21 October 2024). "Tragedy in Afgoye: The Murder of Amun Abdulahi a Visionary Somali Agriculturalist". Nomadicvoice. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ "Former Radio Sweden journalist shot dead in Somalia". Sveriges Radio. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "SR International's Amun Abdullahi Mohamed Awarded Publicist Club Prize". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 15 March 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2022.