A young woman Tiktoker from the Mali she was kidnapped on Thursday November 6 and then publicly executed by jihadists who accused her of collaborating with the country’s military.
Mariam Cisse was a well-known TikToker, uploading videos about her hometown of Tonka, in the Tobuktu region of northern Mali. The young woman had about 90,000 followers on her platform.
Her execution caused deep emotion in the country, which is ruled by a military junta and has been facing a serious security and economic crisis since 2012.
“My sister was arrested on Thursday by the jihadists” who accused her of “informing the Malian army about their movements,” her brother told AFP.
“The next day, they took her by motorbike to Tonka, Independence Square, and shot her. I was in the crowd,” he continued.
“Mariam Cisse was murdered in a public square in Tonka on Friday by jihadists who accused her of filming them on behalf of the Malian army,” a security source confirmed, speaking of “brutality”.
A local MP also confirmed the execution. Jihadist organizations linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have been active in Mali for over a decade.
In recent weeks the jihadists of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM) imposed a blockade on fuel imports, crippling the country’s economy.
JNIM is increasingly tightening the noose around the seemingly weakened military regime.