Armed men in Mali have abducted and publicly executed a popular TikTok influencer known for her support of the country’s military, local officials have confirmed.
According to Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu, the victim, identified as Mariame Cisse, was seized on Friday while attending a weekly market in the town of Echel. “The young TikTok user Mariame Cisse 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 said.
The mayor of Tonka, Mamadou Konipo, also confirmed the execution but said he could not provide further details.
Tonka, located along the Niger River about 150 kilometers from the city of Timbuktu, is known to be an area where members of Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM)—an al-Qaida-linked militant group—operate. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the killing.
Cisse, who had more than 140,000 followers on TikTok, was not a member of the military but frequently posted videos wearing military fatigues and expressing support for Mali’s armed forces. Local officials believe these posts may have drawn the attention of the armed men.
Mayor Tandina added that the influencer had received death threats in the days leading up to her abduction.
Mali has been grappling with insurgency since 2012, and security conditions have steadily deteriorated. Armed groups, particularly JNIM, now control or influence large parts of the country’s rural regions. The situation has been further strained by a fuel blockade currently imposed by the militant group.
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