Said to have been a shy but intelligent boy in school, Burkina Faso\u2019s Capt Ibrahim Traor\u00e9 has become the latest military officer to seize power in a coup in one of France\u2019s former colonies in West Africa.<\/p>\n He overthrew his former comrade, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba on 30 September, after accusing him of failing to fulfil his promise of quelling the Islamist insurgency that has gripped Burkina Faso since 2015.<\/p>\n Born in 1988, this makes the 34-year-old captain the youngest head of state in Africa, joining the ranks of two other coup leaders \u2013 Guinea\u2019s charismatic Col Mamady Doumbouya, born in 1981, and Mali\u2019s bearded Col Assimi Go\u00efta, born in 1983.<\/p>\n \u201cI know I\u2019m younger than most of you here. We didn\u2019t want what happened but we didn\u2019t have a choice,\u201d Capt Traor\u00e9 told government officials.<\/p>\n During Lt-Col Damiba\u2019s short time in power,\u00a0attacks by militant Islamists \u2013 some of them linked to the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda \u2013 increased in Burkina Faso\u00a0as they seized territory in rural areas and encircled cities, leaving the state in control of only about 60% of the country, according to some estimates.<\/p>\n With a lack of strong democratic institutions in a country where the military has long been dominant, Capt Traor\u00e9 seized power with a pledge to improve security in a nation living in fear of the militants.<\/p>\n His coup \u2013 the second in Burkina Faso in less than nine months \u2013 is the latest sign of the\u00a0epidemic of coups that UN chief Ant\u00f3nio Guterres raised concern about in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cMy appeal, obviously, is for \u2013 especially the big powers \u2013 to come together for the unity of the Security Council in order to make sure that there is effective deterrence in relation to this epidemic of coup d\u2019\u00e9tats,\u201d Mr Guterres said at the time.<\/p>\n But with global powers focused either on domestic crises \u2013 or the war in Ukraine \u2013 they have paid little attention to the instability that has wracked countries such as Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n If anything, Burkina Faso and some other countries have found themselves increasingly embroiled in the cold war rivalry that has been reignited by the Ukraine conflict, as\u00a0Russia seeks to expand its influence in the region\u00a0at the expense of France, which has retained close economic, military and cultural ties to many of its former colonies in Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that France cannot interfere directly in our affairs,\u201d Capt Traor\u00e9 said, adding: \u201cThe Americans are our partners now, [but] we can also have Russia as a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n His comments suggest that he could follow the example of his counterpart in Mali, who has allegedly brought in the controversial Russian security group, Wagner, to replace the French in the fight against jihadists, albeit with little success, as the insurgency has worsened there too since the military staged a coup in August 2020.<\/p>\n Capt Traor\u00e9 cut his teeth fighting the jihadists in Mali. He served in a UN force there, and reportedly \u201cshowed bravery\u201d in the face of a \u201ccomplex attack\u201d by militants in the northern Timbuktu region \u2013 famous for its centuries-old buildings \u2013 in 2018.<\/p>\n The following year, he participated in a military operation codenamed Otapuanu in Burkina Faso\u2019s restive east for seven months. He also served in a detachment of Markoye in the northern Sahel region and took part in several operations there.<\/p>\n \u201cTraore is close to his men, wilful and courageous. He could not do six months without going to a detachment,\u201d an unnamed source was quoted as saying on Burkina Faso\u2019s Radio Omega.<\/p>\n But Capt Traor\u00e9 is no decorated war general, only a captain who studied at a local military academy, joined the army in 2009 and received artillery training in Morocco.<\/p>\n He chose a military career after completing his schooling in Burkina Faso\u2019s second city, Bobo-Dioulasso, with reports describing him as \u201cshy and rather reserved\u201d but also \u201cvery intelligent\u201d.<\/p>\n Now, Capt Traor\u00e9 has found himself at the centre of international glare, with some going as far as drawing parallels between him and\u00a0Burkina Faso\u2019s famous revolutionary, Thomas Sankara\u00a0\u2013 not surprising in a nation looking for political saviours after decades of misrule.<\/p>\n \u201cIbrahim Traor\u00e9 has taken over the leadership of the country, like a certain Thomas Sankara, [and] like him after a military coup, captain like him, 34 years old like him. Is this a twist of fate for a Burkina in search of new landmarks?\u201d the privately-owned Wakat Sera website asked.<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/_126957140_mediaitem126957139.jpg\")