By: Nur Hirsi Abdi

Nairobi (Sunatimes)An armed group of men assaulted a Nairobi - based and Ex- BBC Somali journalist, Ayaanle Hussien Abdi on the last Friday’s evening in Somalis’ mainly inhabited EastLeigh neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya as the journalist was getting out of his residence in Section Three.

Three Kenyans, two of them armed opened fire on Ayaanle Hussien soon after he had departed his house, on his way to the nearby location where his Bar-Kulan station’s staff vehicle was waiting for his arrival to pick him up to work.

Unknowingly, Ayaanle suddenly felt to be under a gun-fire and being ransacked by armed men who held the journalist tight during the incident, taking all his legal stay and work documents away from him by force before getting away.

Nim’o Hassan, A Somali female journalist in Nairobi, Kenya witnessed the robbing event. Nim’o said that she was at the scene by the time of armed robbery inflicted upon Ayaanle Hussien. "One of the robbers stabbed him at the left shoulder in a number of times and the others began ransacking him while Ayaanle was desperately fighting for his life", Nim’o said in a shock. She went on narrating about the matter and what exactly happened to him. "We were in the staff vehicle awaiting him to come with us to our workplace. We swiftly saw him in trouble. We couldn’t do anything to help and spare our beloved workmate, Ayaanle Hussien. The only thing we could do and help him was to shout as loud as we could to force the armed robbers to run away in fear", said Nim’o Hassan.

After the armed men had left the scene in speed with what they could take from the journalist, Ayaanle was rushed to Agakhan Hostital in Nairobi where his emergency medical treatment began.

As report which Wariyaha site verified suggests Ayaanle was discharged from the hospital and reunited with his family in Eastleigh. His health situation is reportedly normal.

It is not known the reason behind the attack on the journalist and no one has claimed the responsibility of the attack

This is the second incident of attack which Ayaanle Hussien suffered in a year during his stay in Nairobi.

The journalist who used to have been a BBC Somali reporter in Somalia now works at Bar-kulan Radio in Nairobi – a station funded by UN

By: Nur Hirsi Abdi

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Nairobi, Kenya