Shock has been caused by the news that jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda in the Mali they abducted and executed in cold blood one of its most popular stars TikTok of the country, in front of her family. Her only “crime”, according to them, was filming them and collaborating with the military.
22-year-old Mariam Cisse, TikTok starwho shared daily images from Tonka City to 90,000 of her followers, he was led by gunmen into the main square in Mali and executed with a bullet on 7 November.
The perpetrators, members of the notorious organization Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), they wished in this way to send a message of terror in a country already mired in insecurity.
The news of her death has shocked the country, which has been ruled by a military junta and has been facing a serious security and economic crisis since 2012.
“My sister was captured by jihadists on Thursday [6 Νοεμβρίου]her brother said, claiming that al-Qaeda men accused her of “informing the military in Mali about their movements”.
The next day, according to her brother, the jihadists she was transported by motorbike to Tonka, where she was executed in Independence Squareone of the most important points of the city. He said that they forced him to watch through the crowd.
Mariam used to upload videos commenting on social issues and the dangers of living in an unstable country.
A security source said: “Mariam Cisse was murdered in a public square in Tonka by jihadists who accused her of filming them on behalf of the Malian army.” The same source described the act as “barbarity».
A local official also confirmed the execution, calling it a “heinous crime” and stressing that the terrorists acted to discourage citizens from publicly expressing support for government forces.
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.
JNIM is considered the most powerful jihadist group in Mali and “the most significant threat in the Sahel,” according to the United Nations.
It seeks the implementation of Sharia and attempts to delegitimize the Sahel states, militarily and politically, presenting itself as a more credible alternative.
Information from Dailymail