A young Malian TikToker who voiced support for the country’s armed forces was seized and executed by suspected jihadists, shocking a nation already reeling from a deepening insurgency and fuel blockade.
Mariam Cissé, in her 20s and followed by more than 100,000 users on TikTok, posted videos from her hometown of Tonka in the northern Timbuktu region, often praising the army. State TV said she “wanted to promote her community and support the military.”
Cissé was reportedly detained on Thursday while livestreaming at a market in a nearby town, French broadcaster RFI said. Her brother told AFP that the assailants accused her of “informing the Malian army of their movements.” Over the weekend, she was taken by motorbike back to Tonka and shot at Independence Square; her brother said he was among the crowd. A security source told AFP she was targeted because she had been accused of filming jihadists “for the Malian army.” In some of her videos, Cissé appears in military uniform with captions such as “Vive Mali.”
Her killing comes amid a worsening crisis triggered by an al-Qaeda-linked blockade of fuel deliveries, which has crippled daily life—especially in Bamako—by attacking tankers on key highways from Senegal and Ivory Coast. Schools and universities, closed for weeks, remain shut despite government pledges to reopen them. On Friday, France urged its citizens to leave Mali while commercial flights are still operating.
African Union Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on Sunday voiced “deep concern” over the rapidly deteriorating security situation, condemning deliberate attacks on civilians and pledging AU support for Mali and other Sahel states.
Landlocked Mali has battled jihadist groups since 2012. Despite a 2021 military takeover that promised improved security, large swathes of the north and east remain outside government control.