Freelance Somali cameraman Ali Nur Siad, 31, was killed in a deadly attack in Mogadishu on October 14, 2017, while on assignment for Voice of America. The blast was the deadliest terror attack in Somlia’s history, killing more than 300.
Siad worked with VOA Somali reporter Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle, who was among those wounded in the attack. Mr. Abdulle suffered a broken hand, burns on much of his body, and shrapnel wounds to his head and neck and is receiving medical care in Turkey.
The two journalists had just returned from the Central Prison where they interviewed the Somali Justice Minister about an education program for prisoners. Preparing to ingest the video at an office they were using at the Somali Red Crescent Society, Abdulkadir realized he left the laptop charger in his car. He went outside to get the charger. That’s when the bomb went off. Ali Nur was killed inside the Somali Red Crescent Society.
Ali Nur Siad was born in Jamame town in Lower Jubba region.
He took camera training at a media institute in Mogadishu. His brothers Bakar Hassan Ali and Abdulkadir Nur Siad said he loved being a cameraman and was always showing his videos to journalists in Mogadishu to get their advice. In 2004, he started work as a freelance cameraman. Over the last year, he began working more regularly with VOA reporter Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle.
Ali Nur Siad is survived by his pregnant wife Naimo Nur Gedi, and two children, ages 4 and 1.