Amun Abdullahi
Swedish-Somali journalist (1974–2024)
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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 | 23 October 1974 Mogadishu, Somalia |
| Died | 19 October 2024 (aged 49) Lower Shabelle, Afgoye, Somalia |
| 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
Amun 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
On 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
- 2010: Swedish Publicists' Association Freedom of Speech prize in memory of Anna Politkovskaya.[9]