TikTok influencer publicly executed in Mali as jihadist crisis worsens | Mali
A TikTok influencer was publicly executed by suspected jihadists in Mali, underscoring how state control is eroding in the West African country.
Mariam Cissé often wore combat fatigues to post videos supporting the country’s military to more than 100,000 followers on TikTok. He was kidnapped in a market place by unidentified gunmen on Friday, according to Yehia Tandina, mayor of the Timbuktu region.
At dusk the next day, “the same men brought him to Independence Square in Tonka and executed him in front of the crowd,” Tandina told The Associated Press. The mayor said Cissé, believed to be in his 20s, received death threats before he died.
No one claimed responsibility for the killing, but the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) is known to be patrolling Tonka, about 90 miles from Timbuktu.
“This young woman simply wanted to promote her community through her TikTok posts and encourage the Malian military in their mission to protect people and property,” a report on state television said.
The conflict in Mali began in 2012 when an uprising of Tuareg rebels was hijacked by jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and later the Islamic State. Despite French-led interventions and a UN peace mission, violence spread southwards as rebels took advantage of local grievances, corruption and poor governance.
The military seized 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 in human rights issues, and turned to Russia for support, including Wagner mercenaries.
Despite promises to improve security, the army failed to end the insurgency and tensions rose within its ranks.
“The seizure of power further deepened divisions by splitting the military between privileged regime loyalists and those sent to the front,” said Rama Yade, senior director of the Africa Center, an Atlantic Council think tank. “With the withdrawal of international forces from Mali, this fragmentation led to the abandonment of positions, weapons falling into the hands of separatists, and jihadists expanding their dominance in the northern countryside.”
The jihadists have tightened their control over key supply routes from neighboring Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. JNIM fighters have been imposing a fuel blockade since September, disrupting transportation and leaving hospitals in a difficult situation; The government had to close schools indefinitely. In the capital Bamako and other cities, queues stretch for miles for increasingly costly fuel and food.
France, the USA, Germany and Italy warned their citizens to leave Mali immediately with commercial flights, saying the roads around the capital were unsafe.
Although the junta remains in existence for now, analysts and observers say the regime will likely collapse within weeks or months.
The African Union said in a statement on Sunday that it “expressed deep concern about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Mali” and called for urgent international coordination and intelligence sharing to help the junta restore stability.
Worsening insecurity has led to a spike in kidnappings: five Indian workers were kidnapped near Kobri in western Mali last Thursday. On Sunday, JNIM claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of three Egyptian citizens and demanded $5 million for their release.
