MOGADISHU, Somalia - A veteran Somali journalist was badly wounded when a bomb planted under his car seat exploded in Mogadishu on Tuesday afternoon, Garowe Online reports.

GO reporter in the capital said, Ismail Sheikh Khalifa, a former editor of Star FM's Mogadishu bureau sustained critical wounds after a device went off as he was driving his vehicle in downtown Mogadishu.

Khalifa who was director of Hido radio and a press freedom defender is reported to have been admitted to Digfeer hospital in the capital, where he is currently being treated, according to a media colleague.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which police described as an "attempt on the journalist's life". 

Somalia is ranked one of the most dangerous countries to be a journalist, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ] due to the lawlessness and impunity.

Early this week, an official with Somalia's Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Technology died in a similar bombing, the latest in a string of attacks in the capital.

GAROWE ONLINE