Dufka received her first contract as a photojournalist in 1989, with the Reuters news agency, covering the conflict in El Salvador. In 1992, she relocated to Sarajevo, where she covered the ethnic conflicts in the Balkans. Dufka remained in the region until 1993, when the vehicle in which she was traveling encountered an anti-tank mine. She was seriously injured, suffering facial lacerations, internal injuries, and ligament damage.