MOGADISHU — A Somali journalist was killed by gunmen in Mogadishu on Sunday, the fourth reporter to be murdered in the war-ravaged capital this year, the nation’s journalism union said.

“The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns in the strongest terms possible the murder of the Somali journalist who was killed by armed assailants near his home in Mogadishu’s Dharkenley district,” the body said in a statement.

The victim, Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh, worked for state television and Radio Mogadishu.

He was on his way home from work when he was attacked, the statement said.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work, with at least 18 media workers killed last year.

In January, a journalist for Mogadishu’s Radio Shabelle was also shot dead. In March, another journalist was killed when he was caught up in a suicide bombing in the capital, while a female radio journalist was fatally shot later that same month.

Earlier this year, Somalia’s government offered a $50,000 (37,000 euro) reward for information leading to the “successful conviction of a journalist killer”.

Since then, a first conviction has been made for the killing of a journalist, with a court in Mogadishu sentencing a man to death for the murder of radio reporter Hassan Yusuf Absuge in September 2012.

Somalia has been ravaged by conflict since 1991, but a new UN-backed government took power last year.

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AFP

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