A female TikToker accused of aiding Mali’s army has been captured and killed execution-style by suspected jihadists.
Mariam Cissé, believed to be in her twenties and with more than 100,000 TikTok followers, was known for sharing videos about daily life in her Tonka hometown in northern Timbuktu and often showed support for the Malian army.
Her brutal killing has sent shockwaves across the country, which has been battling jihadist violence since 2012. According to state television, she only intended to promote her community and show solidarity with the military through her social media content.
Mali is currently facing a fuel blockade enforced by jihadist groups that has crippled the capital and disrupted daily life, prompting the African Union (AU) to express “deep concern.”
According to French public radio RFI, Ms Cissé was abducted by the suspected jihadists while live-streaming from a market in a nearby town.
“My sister was arrested on Thursday by the jihadists,” her brother told AFP, explaining that she was accused of “informing the Malian army of their movements.”
AFP further reported that over the weekend, she was transported by motorcycle to Tonka and executed at the town’s Independence Square, with her brother among the witnesses.
A security source told the agency that she was assassinated after being accused of recording jihadists “for the Malian army.”
In several of her TikTok videos, Cissé appears wearing a military uniform, with one of her posts captioned “Vive Mali (Long Live Mali).”
Her murder coincides with the worsening crisis triggered by the ongoing blockade, which has led to the prolonged closure of schools and universities.
The government suspended academic activities last month, pledging to do “everything possible to address the crisis” so institutions could reopen soon.
Despite these assurances, the situation has deteriorated. On Friday, the French foreign ministry urged its citizens to leave Mali immediately while flights were still available.
On Sunday, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf voiced alarm over the “rapid deterioration of the security situation where terrorist groups have imposed blockades, disrupted access to essential supplies, and severely worsened humanitarian conditions for civilian populations.”
He condemned the “deliberate attacks against innocent civilians” that have resulted in “unacceptable loss of lives and heightened instability,” adding that the AU was prepared “to support Mali, as well as all Sahel countries, during this particularly challenging period.”
For weeks, fuel shortages have worsened in Bamako, Mali’s capital, after militants linked to al-Qaeda began attacking fuel trucks on key highways.
Being a landlocked nation, Mali relies heavily on fuel imports by road from Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Since the military takeover in 2021, the junta promised to restore security, yet the jihadist insurgency continues to escalate, leaving vast areas of the north and east outside government control.