Photographer Siegfried Modola wins international prize for Globe and Mail work covering Myanmar civil war
Photojournalist Siegfried Modola has won the prestigious Visa d’or News award for his work covering the civil war in Myanmar, including a photo essay for The Globe and Mail. Journalists have been banned from reporting on the conflict in Myanmar since the country descended into civil war when its armed forces removed the democratically elected government in February 2021. But over several trips in the past year, Mr. Modola spent months with insurgent groups in the junta-controlled country. In September, 2022, on an assignment for The Globe, he crossed into Myanmar and accompanied a local militia unit on a four-day journey through water, jungle, mountain ranges, and valleys to the front line. The resulting photo essay, titled “Inside Myanmar’s armed uprising,” was published in The Globe on Dec. 6, 2022. Mr. Modola has since gone back to Myanmar independently.
A Karenni soldier fires his weapon during fierce clashes against units of Myanmar’s military on April 17, 2023, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar (Burma). This Karenni soldier was less thna 30 meters away from the enemy positions and the intense gun fight lasted for over three hours, until sun down.Siegfried Modola
Bullet holes pierce the front screen of a vehicle belonging to a unit of Karenni soldiers during clashes with Myanmar's military, on April 16, 2023, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. After a large-scale offensive in March that saw the junta trying to dislodge Karenni fighters from their strongholds achieved limited results, the regime now appears focused on seizing control of the state main's roads and strategic junctions to potentially choke resistance groups from fighting.Siegfried Modola
Karenni soldiers take shelter inside a drainage ditch as a mortar shell explodes close by during heavy clashes on April 16, 2023, in the village of Daw Nyay Khu, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Several mortar shells landed a few minutes apart, injuring one Karenni soldier, as others took shelter in this ditch.Siegfried Modola
A Karenni commander removes the spent cartridge of a 40mm grenade from a grendade launcher attached to his AK47 assault rifle during intense clashes against units of Myanmar’s military on April 17, 2023 in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. The control of Kayah is of great importance to the regime as it will allow it to divide the resistance. However, the junta has struggled to cut off resistance supply lines and prevent Karenni fighters from threatening the state’s key strategic locations.Siegfried Modola
Men attend to a critically injured Karenni soldier during clashes with Myanmar's military on April 22, 2023, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. The soldier was shot during a close-range gunfight with the junta inside a forested area. The bullet pierced his liver, but he allegedly survived after being treated by paramedics and then transported to a Karenni military field hospital.Siegfried Modola
A former Karenni soldier who lost both legs after stepping on a landmine is being helped by his friend in a rehabilitation centre on October 17, 2022, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Many victims of landmine explosions end up at this centre, built in a secret location for fear of air strikes by Tatmadaw forces. With antipersonnel landmines banned since 1997, it’s a flagrant breach of international law that the Tatmadaw has placed mines on a large scale in and around towns, villages, rice paddies and urban areas. They’ve killed and wounded countless soldiers and civilians and will make it impossible for thousands of internally displaced people to return home.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Children mourn their father, who was killed during clashes with the military junta, during his funeral on October 29, 2022, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Most of Kayah state's population is already displaced and urgently needs assistance, with reports indicating a severe shortage of food and medicine.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Children hide in their school bomb shelter during an emergency drill in case of mortar shelling by government forces based a few kilometres from their town, on October 24, 2022, Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. The children do regular emergency drills in case of an attack as their town has been bombed three times in one year.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Displaced civilians flee to the border with Thailand in eastern Kayah state, Myanmar, on April 05, 2023. Thousands of civilians have left their homes, not knowing if they will ever be able to come back since the start of the war.Siegfried Modola
Displaced civilians flee to the border with Thailand during the night of April 05, 2023, in eastern Kayah state, Myanmar. Their village had been attacked, and most homes burnt by the military.Siegfried Modola
Karenni soldiers fighting against the Tatmadaw armed forces stand on an outcrop overlooking a valley on October 09, 2022, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Kayah state lies in a highly strategic area of the country, serving as a bridge between resistance strongholds to the south and north. It borders Thailand to the east—a source of weapons and other supplies and Shan State in the north, where the country’s most powerful armed groups operate.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Schoolchildren have lunch during a feeding programme organised by a local women's group on October 05, 2022, in a camp for the internally displaced near Demoso town, Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Whether the Karenni resistance can sustain the fight will depend, in large part, on its ability to see the population through a worsening humanitarian crisis.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
A steady stream of recruits undergo three months of training at one of the Karenni Army’s main bases close to the border with Thailand on September 21, 2022, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Karenni soldiers have remained motivated, fighting to defend their families and homes.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Karenni soldiers fighting Myanmar’s military wash in a stream during a four-day march from the border with Thailand to the centre of Kayah state on September 29, 2022, in eastern Myanmar. Local fighters benefit from their knowledge of the terrain, making it easier to launch surprise ambushes and escape junta attacks.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Karenni soldiers display weapons and ammunition taken from the enemy during fierce clashes with Myanmar's military on April 21, 2023, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. On the same day, the unit's commander sold the entire cache of confiscated weapons and ammunition to another allied armed group fighting against the military to secure funds to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle for his own men.Siegfried Modola
Karenni soldiers walk towards burning homes moments after multiple airstrikes in the village of Daw Nyah Khu, on April 17, 2023, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. With air and artillery support, junta columns attacked from the north and south, destroying several villages. However, a Karenni counter-attack in late March inflicted heavy losses on junta units, which were forced to withdraw from the area. Karenni soldiers kept assaulting and pushing back the regime’s positions in April and May.Siegfried Modola
Ashes are left from the remains of homes burnt by Myanmar’s military, on April 14, 2023, in Daw Ta Ma Gyi village in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. Regime forces have been conducting punishment attacks, sending units of well-armed soldiers, about one hundred strong, burning villages, attacking resistance bases, and killing civilians —a deliberate campaign of atrocities aimed to bring the cost of the resistance to the civilian population.Siegfried Modola
Karenni soldiers walk next to the body of a soldier from Myanmar's military after fierce clashes between the two groups on April 18, 2023, in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. One of the primary attacks by regime forces during the March offensive in Kayah State focused on the area around Daw Ta Ma Gyi in Demoso Township—a Karenni resistance stronghold.Siegfried Modola
A homemade rifle-propelled grenade explodes prematurely as a Karenni soldier test fires the weapon on October 03, 2022, near Demoso in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. The soldier and a video journalist filming the scene were wounded by shrapnel in the incident.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Karenni soldiers fighting Myanmar’s military cross a river during a four-day from near the border with Thailand to the centre of Kayah state on September 27, 2022, in eastern Myanmar. The soldiers carry the bare essentials in small waterproof backpacks including a blanket, a hammock, utensils, a metal container for cooking, and some rice, chillies and dried sardines, which are light to carry and pack lots of energy.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail