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Gunmen assassinated on Monday (October 29th) a well-known poet and comedian who poked fun at al-Shabaab, police and colleagues said.

Warsame Shire Awale, a famous composer who had worked with Somalia's national army band before joining Radio Kulmiye as a drama producer and comedian, was attacked by two gunmen late Monday in Mogadishu's Waberi district, AFP reported.

"Gunmen killed him... we are investigating the matter and the killers will be brought to justice," police chief Ahmed Hassan Malin told reporters.

Abdi Mohamed Haji, a colleague at Radio Kulmiye, said two men shot and wounded Awale near his house and he died soon after in hospital.

Awale, 61, was popular especially among youth. His programmes mocked al-Shabaab leadership, pointing out their misuse of the extreme form of Islamic law they imposed in Somalia.

The veteran broadcaster would create drama shows in which he would examine the hardship of staying in al-Shabaab-controlled areas, as well as the challenges in trying to escape from the militants' orders.

"Given the nature of al-Shabaab, he knew he was at risk of dying," said his nephew Mohamed Abdiweli. Awale was the third media worker killed in this month.

But senior al-Shabaab official Ali Mohamed Hussein said they were not responsible for Awale's death, blaming instead government forces whom he said "kill people for their telephones and their petty belongings".

"This gentleman was an old man and we had no wish to kill him," Hussein said. "Blaming al-Shabaab for this is a politically motivated issue."

The National Union of Somali Journalists condemned the attack.

The killing, the latest in a string of attacks on media workers in Somalia, follows the murder in July of fellow comedian Abdi Malaq Jeylani, known as Marshale, who also worked at Radio Kulmiye.

Awale leaves behind two wives and ten children, according to Somalia's RBC Radio.

The United Nations human rights agency on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the string of assassinations of media workers and urged the Somali government to bring the killers to justice.

"We are extremely alarmed by the continuing assault on Somalia's media workers and journalists by [the al-Qaeda-linked] al-Shabaab and other elements," Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

Colville pointed out that the latest deaths brought to 19 the number of media workers killed in Somalia so far this year, with nine killed in the past six weeks.

He called on Somalia's government "to take urgent steps to protect journalists and other media workers and to end the complete impunity that has been enjoyed by their killers".

"The role of the media is crucial as Somalia tries to get back on its feet, and the continued slaughter of the country's journalists risks stifling the media's ability to contribute to an improvement in law and order and good governance," he said.

Press rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders has called 2012 the "deadliest year" on record for Somalia, surpassing 2009 when nine died.