South African photographer Joao Silva has been severely injured in southern Afghanistan, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The Times said Silva stepped on a mine while on patrol with US soldiers near the town of Arghandab. He was taken to Kandahar Air Field, the US and Nato base, for treatment for severe leg injuries, the newspaper said.
His wife Vivian said he would be moved to Germany on Saturday evening for medical attention.
“He will be moved to Germany tonight. I am not sure of his condition because I haven’t spoken to the doctors. I just know it’s leg injuries,” she said.
The family was “holding up fine”, she said.
No American troops were injured in the explosion, according to the Times report.
Minesweepers and bomb-sniffing dogs had moved over the area several steps ahead of Silva when the bomb went off, the Times reported.
Silva (44) was embedded with a Times reporter with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division. US soldiers have been clearing Taliban insurgents from Arghandab and the surrounding area in recent weeks as part of a larger effort to secure the approaches to Kandahar, the Times said.
Silva has photographed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Southern Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East and won many awards for his work. He is also the author with Greg Marinovich of The Bang-Bang Club, which chronicles four photographers in South Africa in the 1990s. The other two photographers were Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek.
“Joao is the state-of-the-art war photographer, fearless but careful, with an amazing eye,” said Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times. “We’re all waiting anxiously and praying for his quick recovery.”
Homemade bombs and mines account for more casualties among American and Nato troops than any other means, the Times report said.
Support
Messages of support were on Saturday streaming in on Silva’s Facebook wall.
“My thoughts and prayers are with you Boet. Make a speedy recovery and come home soon,” wrote Connall Oosterbroek.
“Thinking of you, praying for you. So sorry to hear,” write Laurel Heritage.
“Joao brother, we’re all praying for you. big time,” read another message from Jerome Delay.
Silva was born on August 9 1966 in Lisbon, Portugal. He is based in Johannesburg. His images have won numerous awards, including the World Press Photo.
Silva said he first started taking pictures in 1989, and later began his career with the Alberton Record, a local SA newspaper.
He convinced his editors to let him cover the violence in Thokoza, and later started submitting photographs to Reuters.
He resigned from the newspaper to freelance full time. – Reuters, Sapa