Abdoulaye Tandina, known locally as Badou « Wayé » or « the butcher » in Songhai, and Abba by the children he fondly interacted with, met a tragic end on Monday evening. Gunmen dragged him from the market square in Tonka, where he sold meat daily, and executed him along the roadside.

A lifelong butcher from Tombouctou, Abdoulaye had called Tonka home for over 40 years and once led the city’s butcher guild. Though he stepped down from that role, his reputation remained strong. His daughter, who runs a shop in Tombouctou, remains devastated by his loss, according to a close associate.

Unanswered questions surround this latest targeted killing

Abdoulaye Tandina becomes the fourth victim of targeted assassinations in Tonka within eight months. In late March, a youth association leader fell to similar violence, followed by the killing of a Quranic teacher in June. The public execution of Mariam Cissé, a young TikToker vocal in her support for Mali’s military, sent shockwaves across the country last November.

Yet Abdoulaye never displayed political affiliations, his family insists. His relatives struggle to understand why he was singled out. One family member revealed that Abdoulaye was distantly related to the current head of Tombouctou’s interim municipal delegation, a connection that does little to clarify the motive behind his murder.