Mogadishu Thursday August 24, 2023 {HMC} Radio Barawe has been off the air for the sixth day after the 12th of August was attacked by troops under the command of former district commissioner Liban Abukar Osman.
The building of the Barawe Radio Center shows the traces of bullets that were fired by the army who attacked the Radio Barawe. and the bullets were aimed to staff of the radio station according to the Media Authority.
The administration of Radio Barawe said that they stopped the work of the media after they feared for their lives and received a series of threats.
The Radio is off the air for six days, thus some of the staff and management of Barawe Media fled the city after they faced continuous threats.
Radio Barawe, which was opened in March 2018, faced four attacks from the local authorities and suffered heavy losses from those attacks, including the arrest, torture and destroyed radio station equipment’s.
The reason why Radio Barawe has been attacked many times is the Jimiini dialect or Barawe dialect which is spoken by some residents of Barawe district which is broadcasted by the radio station but is rejected by the local authorities according to Radio Barawe authorities.
The Somali media association SOMA condemns the attack on Radio Barawe and calls for the protection of media independence and freedom of speech.
We are asking the South West administration and the Federal Government of Somalia to address the problem caused to Radio Barawe and to stop the constant attacks on that media.
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