MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – A British journalist was shot and killed Wednesday in the Somali capital by an unidentified militiaman, witnesses said.The British Broadcasting Corp. confirmed that Kate Peyton, 39, an Africa producer for the broadcaster, was shot and later died.

She had been accompanied by another BBC journalist, who was not injured. The company gave no further details.Witnesses said a militiaman shot her outside the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu.

Peyton underwent surgery at a Mogadishu hospital. The BBC said “it was later reported that she died from internal bleeding.”

The reason for the shooting was not immediately clear. There are many militiamen around the Sahafi Hotel because it is where Somali lawmakers are staying as they assess conditions for relocating the government from neighboring Kenya, where it is currently based.

The assailant was chased by other militiamen who were guarding Peyton, but got away in a car, witnesses said.Peyton had arrived in Mogadishu Wednesday morning on assignment from South Africa, where she is based.The BBC said she had arrived with BBC reporter Peter Greste to make a series of reports about the country.”Peter Greste was unharmed,” it said.

In a BBC statement released in London, Director of News Helen Boaden said, “Kate was one of our most experienced and respected foreign affairs producers who had worked all over Africa and all over the world. She will be greatly missed, both professionally and personally.”

Director-General Mark Thompson added, “Kate had worked for the BBC since 1993 and was dedicated to covering news across the African continent. All our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.”

President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed said that Peyton’s death, “is extremely shocking and extremely tragic,” his spokesman Yusuf Ismail said, speaking from Nairobi, Kenya. “It is a cowardly act and if the message was to scare the new Somali institutions or the international community, definitely the killers made a very significant mistake,” Ismail quoted Yusuf as saying.

Somalia has had no effective central government since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Then they turned on each other, sinking this nation of 7 million into anarchy.Mogadishu is in southern Somalia where aid agencies have posted few international staff because of security concerns.