A young Malian TikToker was kidnapped on Thursday and then publicly executed the next day in northern Mali by suspected jihadists who accused him of collaborating with the Malian army, a member of his family, a security source and a local elected official said on Sunday.
Mariam Cissé is known for the videos she shares on TikTok about her town Tonka, located in the Timbuktu region (north). The young girl has more than 90,000 subscribers on the platform.
His execution caused great emotion in a country ruled by a junta and since 2012 facing a severe security crisis coupled with an economic crisis. “My younger sister was arrested on Thursday by jihadists” who accused her of “feeding information to the Malian army about (their) movements,” her brother said.
“The next day, they took him to Tonka on a motorbike to Independence Square (and) they shot him. I was in the audience,” he continued. “Mariam Cissé 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 who asked not to be named also confirmed, denouncing the “barbarity.” A local elected official confirmed the execution, which he described as a “despicable act.”
Since 2012, Mali has faced a severe security crisis, particularly fueled by violence from jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization (ISIS), as well as community criminal groups. This adds to a serious economic crisis.
Jihadists from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM) have imposed a blockade on fuel imports as far away as Bamako in recent weeks, crippling the landlocked Sahel nation’s economy. JNIM also tightened its grip on the increasingly weakened military regime.
