Malian woman who posted on TikTok abducted, executed

The Malian army patrolling the streets of Gao, northern Mali, on Nov. 24, 2013. (Jerome Delay / AP)

Suspected jihadists in northern Mali kidnapped a young woman who had been posting on TikTok and then publicly executed her, her family and local officials said Sunday.

Mariam Cisse posted videos about the city of Tonka in the northern Timbuktu region and had 90,000 followers, but her abductors accused her of collaborating with the army.

News of her death has shocked the country, which is ruled by a military junta that is struggling to contain the jihadist insurgency that has gripped the country since 2012.

“My sister was arrested Thursday by the jihadists,” her brother told AFP, saying they had accused her of “informing the Malian army of their movements”.

The following day, they took her on a motorbike to Tonka, where she was shot in Independence Square, he said, adding that “I was in the crowd.”

A security source told AFP: “Mariam Cisse has been assassinated in a public square in Tonka by jihadists who accused her of having filmed them for the Malian army.”

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a “barbaric” act.

A local official also confirmed the execution to AFP, denouncing it as an “ignoble act”.

The military junta is struggling to contain the long-running jihadist insurgency.

In recent weeks, fighters from JNIM, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, have imposed a fuel blockade that has forced the government to close schools and prevented harvesting in several regions.