Former Radio Sweden Journalist Amun Abdullahi killed by gunmen in Somalia..

Amun Abdullahi, a former Radio Sweden journalist known for her investigative reporting on al-Shabaab recruitment, was shot and killed by masked gunmen on Friday evening in the town of Afgooye, northwest of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Abdullahi, 49, was ambushed by her attackers, who fled the scene immediately. Authorities have yet to identify the suspects or a motive for the killing, but the area has seen multiple attacks by the militant insurgency group al-Shabaab…

Abdullahi, originally from Somalia, sought asylum in Sweden in 1992 and spent many years working at Radio Sweden’s Somali language department. In 2009, she gained prominence for exposing how al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based extremist group, was recruiting young people from the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby. Her groundbreaking investigation revealed that a youth leader at a local center was directly involved in recruiting for the militant group. Abdullahi’s report aired on Ekot, Sweden’s leading news program, and sparked national controversy.

Abdullahi’s exposé led to backlash within her community. Many accused her of betraying Muslims and Somalis in Sweden, with some calling her a traitor. She faced threats and was ostracized by her community, accused of selling out to Swedish journalists and contributing to negative portrayals of Islam. 

The situation worsened when the Swedish radio program Konflikt dismissed her findings, fueling skepticism about her work. However, her reporting was later validated by Sweden’s Security Service (Säpo), which confirmed that al-Shabaab recruitment had occurred in Rinkeby.

After the intense backlash, Abdullahi left Sweden and returned to Somalia over a decade ago. There, she focused on community development, running projects to empower women and establishing a farm to promote local agriculture. Despite the danger, she remained committed to contributing to her homeland’s growth and recovery.

Throughout her career, Abdullahi was widely respected for her courage and commitment to truth. In 2010, she received the Publicist Club’s Freedom of Speech Award in memory of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, honouring her for exposing the dangers of extremist recruitment. She was also nominated for Sweden’s prestigious Guldspaden journalism award, Somali authorities have launched an investigation into Abdullahi’s murder, but no arrests have been made.