Somali poet Warsame Shire Awale killed

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MOGADISHU, Somalia, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- No arrests have been made in this week's shooting death of Somali poet Warsame Shire Awale, said police in the country's capital of Mogadishu.

Awale, who was in his 60s, was a poet, playwright and songwriter who urged his countrymen to join the police force and criticized the militant group, al-Shabaab, for allegedly misleading people in the name of Islam.

The BBC said he was shot and killed by unknown gunmen near his home Monday evening.

The National Union of Somali Journalists told the British broadcaster the writer had received death threats because of his work.

He is the 18th media personality killed this year in Somalia, the BBC said.