Suspected Al-Qaeda militants in northern Mali kidnapped and publicly executed a young TikTok sensation known for her pro-army content, gunning her down at a town square after accusing her of espionage during a livestream that horrified her watching family.
Mariam Cisse, in her 20s, content creator with over 90,000 followers, was seized by armed men on November 7 while broadcasting from a fair in the remote town of Tonka, her family recounted, before being dragged to Independence Square and slain by members of the Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) extremist group.
Cisse’s videos, often featuring her in military fatigues, celebrated Malian troops amid the nation’s grinding insurgency, drawing jihadist ire for allegedly relaying their positions to security forces.
“The jihadists accused her of providing information about their movements to the Malian army,” her relatives told local media, amplifying calls for justice in a country reeling from over a decade of violence.
A security official branded the act “barbaric,” while regional authorities decried it as an “ignoble act” designed to intimidate civilians from backing the junta-led government.
The killing has ignited widespread fury online and off, underscoring the junta’s faltering grip on northern territories plagued by Islamist attacks since 2012, as Bamako wrestles with alliances shifting from French forces to Russian mercenaries.
