The attack, which Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for, killed Abdulkadir Ahmed Mayow, a 27-year-old reporter for Somali Channel TV andStar FM, and Mohamed Isaq Barre, a 25-year-old cameraman forKalsan TV, local journalists told CPJ. Kalsan TV reporter Abdulkadir Hassan Jokar, Dalsan Radio reporter Mohamed Adan Socdaal, andSomSat TVreporter Abdulkadir Hassan Ibrahim were injured, the same sources said.

The journalists, who all worked for privately owned news outlets, were among at least 15 victims killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up before a car containing explosives wasdriven intothe restaurant, according to local journalists andreports.

"This is the deadliest attack against the Somali press this year," said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. "We urge authorities to do their utmost to target the masterminds and end a cycle ofimpunityfor journalist murders in Somalia."

In a radio message aired on the Al-Shabaab-run Radio Andalus, the militant group's spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Mus'ab claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was targeting Ethiopians, spies, and officials, local journalists said. Somali journalists are often referred to as spies by the militia group, which has links to al-Qaeda and has fought for control of Somalia since 2006.

Abdulkadir Hassan Ibrahim, who suffered severe shrapnel wounds, was airlifted on December 7 to a Mogadishu hospital set up for the African Union peacekeeping forces, local journalists in Baidoa told CPJ. Abdulkadir Hassan Jokar and Mohamed Adan are being treated at the Baidoa Hospital, the same sources said.

Sue Valentine
Africa Program Coordinator
svalentine@cpj.org

Peter Nkanga
West Africa Representative
Email:pnkanga@cpj.org