Ibrahim Traore: Who’s the soldier behind Burkina Faso’s newest coup?

Ibrahim Traore: Who is the soldier behind Burkina Faso's latest coup?

[ad_1]



Reuters
 — 

As a heavily armed convoy drove through a cheering crowd in Burkina Faso’s capital on Sunday morning, the boyish face of the country’s latest military ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traore, emerged from the turret of an armored personnel carrier.

Sporting fatigues and a red beret, the 34-year-old smiled and raised his thumb as onlookers welcomed him, some by waving Russian flags.

Traore, a relatively low-ranking officer who days earlier was running an artillery regiment in a small northern town, has been catapulted onto the world stage since he and a group of soldiers overthrew President Paul-Henri Damiba in a Sept. 30 coup.

Little is known about Traore and his colleagues, who since Friday have delivered statements on national television brandishing guns, ammunition belts, and masks.

They face gigantic challenges to alleviate hardship in one of the…

[ad_2]