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Three guerrilla women training at a People's Defense Forces camp in Myanmar in late October
Photo: J Paing / MPA
There are those who thought a year ago that they would soon be studying abroad for a semester.
There are those who thought, maybe I'll marry them now, maybe we're finally starting the family we've been talking about for a long time.
There was no one who thought a year ago that they would find themselves on muddy ground in the jungle in October 2021, gun in right hand, torso on the ground, crawling with feet.
Training for war.
In October, photographer J Paing visited the guerrillas training against the military regime in the mountainous, forested areas of Myanmar.
He comes from Myanmar himself and has fled because as a photojournalist he was in danger of going to jail.
Now and then he dares to go back to his homeland to document what is happening there.
DER SPIEGEL met J Paing outside Myanmar for a discussion.
The pictures he brought back from the jungle are a rare glimpse into a generation in Myanmar who are defending themselves, who are fighting relentlessly against the new old state power: the military.
In February the junta had reverted to power.
De facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi imprisoned.
A state of emergency was imposed.
Gone were the years when it looked like Myanmar, after decades of conflicts, changing military regimes and fighting by ethnic minorities, was on the way to more openness and democracy.
Initially, people demonstrated peacefully on the streets of Yangon and other cities, beating pots and writing "Release Aung San Suu Kyi" on posters.
But when the military cracked down on the demonstrators and shot young women and men on the street, the protest also turned into violence.
In the meantime, an army of volunteers has formed underground, who are hiding in the woods and are undergoing military training, supported by troops from ethnic minorities who have years of experience in dealing with the Burmese regime.
It is an asymmetrical conflict: there the 300,000-strong army, trained for years, armed with weapons from China and Russia. On the other hand, young men and women who hold a weapon in their hand for the first time, who hear about war strategy for the first time. Who have to get used to the idea that the battle with the Burmese military is a matter of life and death.
Photographer J Paing says he was surprised by the guerrillas' determination.
There are now hundreds of groups of such so-called People's Defense Forces (PDFs) across the country.
The "International Crisis Group" also comes to this number.
A stable infrastructure has developed.
The people who joined the groups are convinced that they will win and will not give up.
To accept anything to free Myanmar from the junta.
He believes that social networks in particular play a major role in this.
Unlike in previous decades, the military can no longer hide its atrocities.
“The people see them, every day people see who is in charge of their country.
You do not tolerate it.
That drives people en masse into the resistance groups, ”he says.
But the question remains: What can these beginners of war do against a military trained over years?
And how do women and men deal with the traumatic experiences?
What almost looks like a great survival training and adventure is in reality nothing more than a brutal preparation for a bloody fight.
For your safety, the women and men in the photos remain without names.
See the training of the guerrillas in this photo gallery:
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