Armed individuals in Mali have reportedly taken the life of a TikTok influencer who openly supported the country’s military, officials revealed on Monday. Mariame Cissé was abducted at a market in Echel last Friday, as confirmed by Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu. The following day, the abductors returned her to Independence Square in Tonka and carried out her execution in front of witnesses, Tandina informed The Associated Press.
Mamadou Konipo, the mayor of Tonka in the Timbuktu region, corroborated the incident but indicated a lack of further details. Situated along the Niger River, Tonka is approximately 150 kilometers away from Timbuktu and is an area where the militant group Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) is active.
No organization has claimed responsibility for the tragic event. Despite not being a military member, Cissé occasionally shared photos of herself in military attire with her sizeable following of over 140,000 followers, which likely attracted the attention of the armed assailants.
According to Tandina, Cissé had received death threats in the days leading up to her abduction. Reuters independently verified the story through two local sources who chose to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. While they did not witness the execution, one source reported hearing the account from a bystander in the crowd, while the other received information from Cissé’s family.
In one of her TikTok videos, Cissé showcased herself in military gear with the caption “Vive Mali,” aiming to promote her community and show support for the Malian army in protecting citizens and their belongings. Mali has been grappling with armed factions since 2012, with the situation intensifying over the past decade. Following a military takeover in 2020 under the guise of addressing security challenges, another coup occurred the subsequent year, exacerbating the instability, according to various monitoring bodies.
JNIM, predominantly active in rural regions, continues to pose a significant threat, with the group currently imposing a fuel blockade on the landlocked nation.
