U.S-trained Somalia counter-terrorism police, NISA physically attack journalists, kidnap them in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia 9 May 2026 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) is appalled and strongly condemns the abduction, beatings, causing physical injury and death threats against three journalists — Mohamed Ibrahim Osman (Bulbul), SJS Secretary of Information and Human Rights; Abdihafid Nor Barre, a freelance online journalist; and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud of Somali Stream Online — by members of Somalia’s counter-terrorism police unit known as the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit, and the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) in Mogadishu on the night of Friday, 8 May 2026.

At around 8:20pm on Friday, the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit — a special police unit trained by the U.S Government — together with members of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), raided a local restaurant in Mogadishu’s Buulo Xuubey Wadajir district, where they beat and abducted three journalists: Mohamed Ibrahim Osman (Bulbul), Abdihafid Nor Barre and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud. The three journalists were having dinner at the restaurant when the raid began.

The officers, whose faces were covered with masks, wore gloves and carried tactical rifles fitted with optical sights while NISA officers with pistols stood next to them. According to the journalists and other eyewitnesses, the officers forcibly entered the restaurant and began pointing their guns at the journalists and other members of the public inside the crowded venue.

The three journalists told SJS that they were beaten with pistols and kicked as they were escorted out of the restaurant. Abdihafid Nor Barre sustained a head injury that caused bleeding after officers struck him on the head with a pistol. He was taken away handcuffed in a vehicle. Abdihafid was also blindfolded with his shirt while bleeding from the head.

“I sustained heavy kicks and punches to my chest and kidneys. They also beat me with their pistols and hit my kidneys. I am feeling immense pain,” Bulbul told SJS on Saturday morning.

“I was hit with a pistol by a NISA officer while two officers of the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit were pointing their guns at me with flashlights directed into my eyes. I became dizzy and could not see anything. I started shouting loudly so that people nearby could hear me, but they intensified the beating until I lost consciousness,” Abdihafid told SJS. “When I woke up, I was in their car, blindfolded and handcuffed, with my chest facing the ground.”

Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud told SJS that, prior to the raid, their media office had received threats because of their reporting on forced evictions as well as the planned opposition protests in Mogadishu.

All three journalists were transported first to Hodan District Police Station in the city centre before being moved to Yaaqshiid District Police Station in the north of the city. There, the the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit and NISA officers who led the operation questioned them about what they were doing at the restaurant and confiscated their phones. The officers then began interrogating Mohamed Bulbul about a recent article published by The Guardian exposing violations against Sadia Moalim Ali, a young woman activist imprisoned in Mogadishu since 12 April for a peaceful protest.

Shortly before midnight, the journalists were transferred to the Banadir Regional Police Command near the NISA headquarters on the east of Mogadishu. At the police headquarters, the three journalists said they were presented to Mogadishu Police Chief Mahdi Omar Mumin, known as Moalim Mahdi, who threatened them “with death if they continued reporting on the opposition protests” scheduled for Sunday, 10 May.

Moalim Mahdi, a former Al-Shabaab terror group defector who previously involved in multiple attacks against journalists, also questioned Mohamed Bulbul about the recent piece with The Guardian concerning Sadia Moalim Ali which Bulbul co-reported.

“Moalim Mahdi asked me how I got the contacts and why I was interested in the case of Sadia Moalim Ali. I told him that it was my journalistic duty to do that and that Sadia is an innocent citizen that deserves advocacy,’ Mohamed Bulbul told SJS.

The journalists said that Moalim Mahdi told them he was “tired of arresting journalists” and that if they did not remain silent about the protests and other developments in Mogadishu, including the case of Sadia Moalin Ali, the only option remaining for them would be “death.”

While at the police headquarters, officers removed Abdihafid’s bloodstained clothes on the orders of Moalim Mahdi and instructed him to remain silent about the injuries he had sustained. Around midnight, the three journalists were released. Abdihafid Nor Barre and Mohamed Bulbul were later taken to a local hospital by colleagues.

Sources at the restaurant that came under the raid also told SJS that at least six other young Mogadishu residents active in political campaigns were also arrested and severely beaten, according to the journalists who saw them in custody. One of those detained is a young woman. All remain in detention as of Saturday morning.

When SJS contacted the commander of the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit, he declined to comment on last night’s raid.

“We express grave concern as we unequivocally condemn the continued misuse of internationally-funded security assistance in Somalia, including U.S-trained counter-terrorism units known as the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit in Mogadishu against our journalists and youth activists. The abduction of Mohamed Ibrahim Bulbul, Abdihafid Nor Barre and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud is a direct assault on press freedom and civic space in Mogadishu,” said SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin.

“We call for an urgent, independent, and transparent investigation into the kidnappings, beatings, and threats against the three colleagues by the Mobile Vehicle Checkpoint Unit and NISA in Mogadishu, as we also urge accountability for all those responsible, regardless of rank or position,” added Mr. Mumin.