Armed men in Mali abducted and publicly executed a TikTok influencer who posted in support of the country’s military, according to local authorities.
“The young TikTok user Mariame Cisse was abducted by armed men on Friday while she was at the weekly market in Echel … The following day, at dusk, the same men brought her back to Independence Square in Tonka and executed her in front of a crowd,” Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu said.
The mayor of Tonka in the Timbuktu region, Mamadou Konipo, confirmed the execution took place but said he didn’t have more information.
Tonka is a village situated along the Niger River, approximately 150 kilometers from the city of Timbuktu. Members of the al-Qaida affiliate Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, are known to operate there.
However, no group has claimed responsibility for the killing.
Cisse was not a member of the military but sometimes posted images of herself in military fatigues to her more than 140,00 followers. These videos are thought to have drawn attention from the armed men.
According to the Timbuktu mayor, the influencer also received death threats several days before she was abducted.
Source:DW