Journalists Killed in 2015 - Motive Confirmed: Mustaf Abdi Noor

Freelance
November 1, 2015, in Mogadishu, Somalia

Mustaf Abdi Noor, a freelance cameraman and photographer also known as Shafana, was killed by a car bomb while covering an attack on a Mogadishu hotel, according to news reports.

The attack on the Sahafi hotel began in the early hours of November 1, 2015, when members of al-Shabaab, a militant group active in Somalia, detonated a large car bomb at the gate to the hotel and gunmen invaded the building, news reports said. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, in which at least 13 people were killed, according to reports.

Mustaf went to the hotel to cover the attack but was killed by the second explosion, according to reports. Feisal Omar, a photographer for Reuters, was injured in the blast, reports said. The Sahafi hotel, (Sahafi means journalist in Arabic) was a popular spot for journalists, members of civil society, and political officials, according to reports.

The Shabelle Media Network confirmed Mustaf had been killed while covering the hotel raid for them, according to a statement published in news reports.

Mustaf, 23, had worked for the privately owned station Shabelle Media Network and been a regular contributor to Al Jazeera, according to Hamza Mohamed, a producer for Al Jazeera English who published a tribute to the 23-year-old he had known for two years. In his piece, Mohamed described Mustaf as a "rising star" in his profession, calling him "a multi-talented journalist, adept at both taking photographs and reporting." A local journalist who also knew Mustaf and who asked not to be named, told CPJ he had freelanced as a cameraman for the Shabelle Media Network and as a photographer for Al Jazeera.