Type Broadcast Availability National Launch date 1943 | ||
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Radio Mogadishu (Somali: Radio Muqdisho, Arabic: راديو مقديشو) is the federal government-run radio station of Somalia.
Contents
History
Established during the colonial period in Italian Somaliland, Radio Mogadishu initially broadcast news items in both Somali and Italian. Transmissions in Somali at the station first began in 1943, concurrent with the start of Somali language programming in Radio Djibouti. Radio Mogadishu was modernized with Russian assistance following independence in 1960, and began offering home service in Somali, Amharic and Oromo.
After closing down operations due to the civil war that broke out in 1991, the station was officially re-opened in the early 2000s by the Transitional National Government of former President of Somalia, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan.
Prior to the Somali Army's ultimate pacification of the capital in August 2011, Radio Mogadishu operated from a walled compound guarded by armed soldiers. The station's staff routinely broastcasted news, talk shows and music despite threats of violence.
Radio Mogadishu presently broadcasts from downtown Mogadishu. In the late 2000s, the station also launched a complementary website of the same name, with news items in Somali, Arabic and English.