Leading Somali journalist slain

Nasteh Dahir Farah, 36, who freelanced for the BBC and Reuters news agencies in Somalia, was fatally shot on his way home in the southern city of Kismayu about 7 p.m. (noon ET), the National Union of Somali Journalists said Saturday.

A group of armed men fired several shots at Farah, who was elected vice president of the union in 2005. He was taken to a hospital but died 10 minutes after he was admitted, according to the group Reporters Without Borders.

At least nine other journalists have been killed in Somalia since February 2007, according to Amnesty International.

"No one is protecting Somali journalists, who have become targets for all the armed groups," said Omar Faruq Osman, secretary-general of the journalists union. "We will not stop our work because of these criminals."

The group said Farah had received several death threats.

"We denounce this assassination in strongest terms possible," the group said in a statement.

Somalia has been the scene of brutal fighting since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre before fighting among themselves.

Nasteh Dahir, who worked for both the BBC and Associated Press news agency, was shot in the chest and stomach outside his home.