A TikTok influencer has been shot dead in front of a crowd by suspected jihadists in Mali, underlining how state control has been eroded in the west African nation.
Mariam Cissé often wore combat attire to post videos in support of the country’s military to more than 100,000 followers on TikTok. According to Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu region, she was abducted in a market on Friday by unknown gunmen.
At dusk the next day, “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 said Cissé, who is believed to have been in her 20s, received death threats before her death.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killing but Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a group linked to al-Qaida, is known to patrol Tonka, which is about 90 miles from Timbuktu.
“This young woman simply wanted to promote her community through her TikTok posts and encourage the Malian army in its missions to protect people and their property,” said a report on state TV.
The conflict in Mali began in 2012 when an uprising by Tuareg rebels was hijacked by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and later Islamic State. Despite French-led interventions and a UN peace mission, violence spread southward as insurgents exploited local grievances, corruption and weak governance.
The military took control of the country in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, after which tensions with western allies deepened. The junta expelled French and UN forces, accusing them of interfering over human rights issues, and turned to Russia for support, including from Wagner mercenaries.
The army has failed to end the insurgency, despite its promises to improve security, and tensions have developed within its ranks.
“The power grab only deepened its divisions, splitting the army between privileged loyalists of the regime and those sent to the frontlines,” said Rama Yade, senior director of the Africa Centre at the Atlantic Council thinktank. “Coupled with the departure of international forces from Mali, this fragmentation led to abandoned positions, weapons falling into the hands of separatists, and jihadists expanding their hold over the rural north.”
The jihadists have tightened control over key supply routes from neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania and Senegal. Fighters from JNIM have imposed a fuel blockade since September, crippling transport and leaving hospitals struggling, and the government has been forced to shut down schools indefinitely. In Bamako, the capital, and other cities, queues stretch for miles for increasingly costly fuel and food.
France, the US, Germany and Italy have issued warnings to their citizens to leave Mali urgently on commercial flights, saying the roads around the capital were unsafe.
Although the junta is holding on for now, analysts and observers say the fall of the regime is likely within weeks or months.
In a statement on Sunday, the African Union “expressed deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Mali”, calling for urgent international coordination and intelligence-sharing to help the junta restore stability.
The worsening insecurity has led to a spike in kidnappings: five Indian workers were abducted last Thursday near Kobri in western Mali. On Sunday, JNIM claimed responsibility for the abduction of three Egyptian nationals and demanded $5m to release them.
