Ofure Akhigbe
Armed men in Mali have killed a TikTok influencer known for her posts supporting the country’s military, local authorities confirmed on Monday.
Mariame Cissé, a popular social media user with more than 140,000 followers, was abducted on Friday, November 7, while visiting the weekly market in Echel, according to Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu.
“The young TikTok user Mariame Cissé 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,” Tandina told The Associated Press.
The mayor of Tonka, Mamadou Konipo, confirmed the killing but said he had no further details. Tonka, located about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Timbuktu along the Niger River, is known to be an area where militants from the al-Qaida-affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) operate.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killing.
Cissé, who was not a member of the armed forces, often shared photos and videos of herself wearing military fatigues — a gesture believed to have drawn the attention of extremists. According to the Timbuktu mayor, she had received death threats several days before her abduction.
Mali has struggled with insurgency and instability since 2012, when armed groups took control of parts of the north. The military seized power in a coup in 2020, citing failure to address insecurity. A subsequent coup in 2021 deepened political uncertainty. Despite the government’s promises to restore order, violence has intensified, with JNIM controlling vast rural territories.
The landlocked nation is currently facing a fuel blockade imposed by JNIM, worsening living conditions for civilians and highlighting the risks faced by public figures like TikTok content creators who express support for the Malian military online.