CHRONOLOGY-Attacks on journalists in Somalia

Dec 24 (Reuters) - Somali gunmen released on Monday a French journalist they had kidnapped in the northern Puntland region, a regional official said.

Eight journalists have been killed in Somalia this year alone, making it the most dangerous country in the world for reporters after Iraq, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Here is a chronology of journalists who have been attacked in Somalia since a conflict between Islamists and the government began in June 2006.

2006:

June 23 - Gunman shoots dead Swedish television cameraman Martin Adler covering a pro-Islamist demonstration in Mogadishu.

Aug 4 - Vehicle carrying members of the National Union of Somali Journalists is ambushed between Baidoa and Mogadishu. The driver Madey Garas is killed and a journalist injured.

2007:

Feb 16 - Ali Mohammed Omar, a presenter on Radio Warsan in Baidoa, is shot dead by three assailants as he walked home.

May 5 - Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif, a contributor to private radio station Voice of Peace, is killed in Puntland.

May 15 - Abshir Ali Gabra, a journalist with the independent radio station Radio Jowhar, and Ahmed Hassen, a correspondent with the independent broadcaster, Somalia Broadcasting Corporation are killed in the central Shabelle region.

Aug 11 - Gunmen shoot dead Somali HornAfrik radio journalist and talk show host Mahad Ahmed Elmi outside his station in Mogadishu.

Aug 11 - HornAfrik media co-founder Ali Iman Sharmarke is killed by a landmine while travelling in Mogadishu after the funeral of a murdered colleague. Reuters journalist Sahal Abdulle is injured.

Aug 24 - Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim Kaskey of local Radio Banadir is killed after attackers open fire on a minibus in southwestern Gedo province. Another passenger is hurt.

Oct 19 - Acting chairman of Radio Shabelle, Bashir Nur Gedi, is shot dead by unknown men in his house in Mogadishu.

Dec 16 - Gunmen seize French journalist Gwen Le Gouil of TV company Cargocult Production.

Dec 24 - Somali kidnappers release Le Gouil

Sources: Reuters/ Reporters Without Borders/ National Union of Somali Journalists.