MOGADISHU - Somali gunmen killed a female radio journalist in Mogadishu, the latest in a string of reporters murdered in the war-ravaged capital, colleagues and witnesses said yesterday.

Two men shot dead Rahmo Abdukadir, who worked for the private Radio Abduwaq station, late on Sunday.

"One of our female staff members was shot and killed in Mogadishu. We don't know why she was killed but we are in shock," said station director Abdikarin Ahmed.

Witnesses said men approached the reporter before firing repeatedly and then ran away.

"Two men armed with pistols shot the woman ... they fired their guns five times before fleeing," said witness Abdi Moalin Shire.

"There was another girl who accompanied the victim but the gunmen did not target her. She ran away screaming for help," said Issa Mohamed, another witness.

At least 18 media workers were killed in 2012 - double the worst year on record and second only to war-torn Syria - but no one has been charged with the killings. Abdukadir is the third journalist to be killed this year.

A reporter for Mogadishu's Radio Shabelle was shot dead in January, while another journalist was killed when he was caught up in a suicide bombing in the capital earlier this month.

Somalia's journalists have suffered a string of attacks, including assassinations or bomb blasts, often blamed on al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.

Other murders are also believed to be linked to struggles within the multiple factions in power.

Last month Somalia's government offered a R465000 reward for information leading to the "successful conviction of a journalist's killer".

Somalia has been ravaged by conflict since 1991, but a new UN-backed government took power last year.

Many say the new government offers the most serious hope for stability since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre more than two decades ago.