When Lieutenant Traoré became Captain Traoré

In both Burkina Faso and Mali, Traore saw firsthand the devastation that unchecked violence could bring: entire villages reduced to ash, homes burned to the ground, and the stench of death thick in the air. The cries of grieving mothers echoed in his ears as they clutched the lifeless bodies of their children, victims of senseless brutality. Fields that once provided sustenance for families lay scorched and barren, while the hollowed faces of the survivors told stories of starvation and loss. The jihadists left a trail of terror in their wake – bodies strewn even in holy places, schools abandoned, and communities fractured beyond repair. Every glance revealed the suffering etched into the eyes of those who remained, haunted by the violence that had claimed their loved ones and shattered their way of life.

Traoré vowed to do his best for these people. He now understood that Burkina Faso’s fight wasn’t just about bullets and bombs. It was also about reclaiming dignity and sovereignty.

By late 2021, Burkina Faso was in the grip of a full-blown humanitarian crisis. The insurgency that had been simmering for years had spread like a virus, tearing through the country's fragile infrastructure and leaving devastation in its wake. A quarter of the population, totaling over five million people, faced severe food insecurity.
Click here to read part 1 of this Ibrahim Traore series

As he marched in the vast north defending his country, Traoré encountered abandoned farms. Fields once tilled for crops lay fallow, their farmers either too afraid to return or forced to abandon them due to the relentless violence. He saw abandoned markets. In Burkina Faso as in other African countries, marketplaces are the lifeblood of rural communities. They are malls and town squares rolled into one. Seeing them in these desolate states tore apart his heart. Markets that had once been vibrant with the colors and scents of local produce became eerily quiet, as supply chains disintegrated under the pressure of constant attacks. Food shortages heightened. Insurgents weaponized the little food available.

Various insurgent groups, some aligned with the Islamic State, others with al-Qaeda, roamed the countryside unchecked, their presence turning vast stretches of land into no-go zones. They blocked roads, took over villages, and terrorized the local population, making it impossible for humanitarian aid to reach those most in need. Entire communities were trapped, with no way to flee and no means to survive. Barsalogho. Gorgadji. Solhan. Arbinda. These are just some of the towns and villages that lost dozens of people to the jihadists. Lives snuffed out just like that.
Click here to read part 2 of this Ibrahim Traore series

Schools closed, health centers were abandoned, and the government’s authority was virtually non-existent in these parts. The country's already-strained resources were stretched to their breaking point as internally displaced people flooded urban centers in search of refuge, pushing the nation toward collapse. The international community took notice, but their efforts to intervene were stifled by the sheer scale of the crisis and the difficulty of navigating a country where insurgents ruled vast swathes of territory. Burkina Faso had become a battleground, not just for its army, but for its people’s very survival.

Captain Ibrahim Traoré was at the heart of this battle, in northern Burkina Faso. On Friday June 4 2021, broke his heart even more when they attacked the village of Sobha in northern Burkina Faso. This attack became the deadliest yet. Heavily armed assailants mercilessly stormed into the area, beginning with a brutal raid on a gold mine before setting their sights on the village. They burned homes, destroyed livelihoods, and left more than 100 innocent civilians dead. The once bustling village market, which was a lifeline for the community, was reduced to ashes.

For Captain Ibrahim Traoré, this attack was a vivid reminder of the deep, aching wounds his people bore. It was the systematic stripping away of hope, of dignity, of life itself. Traoré, who had walked these scorched fields and seen firsthand the devastation of a war that felt endless, knew that this attack entailed the slow, methodical erasure of a people. And with each new tragedy like Sobha, his commitment grew – not just to defend his country, but to reclaim it, piece by shattered piece, from the jaws of those who had stolen so much​.

Having witnessed the collapse of rural life and the relentless terror inflicted on innocent people, he became more resolute in his mission. Sobha’s tragedy fueled his disillusionment with the political elite, intensifying his resolve to protect his homeland from the ever-present threat of insurgency and reclaim the dignity of a people caught in the crossfire of violence​.

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