🔗 Share this article

Late one night last month, a resident heard detonations in a adjacent village, and subsequently fighter jets soaring above. She dashed from her home to see a smoke cloud in the distance.

"We were terrified. We believed the military's aircraft might attack us too. So we grabbed what we could – a bit of food and clothing and fled into the jungles around our village."

Iang's face quivers as she recounts the story of what occurred on 26 November in her village, found in Myanmar's western Chin region. She is one of countless residents who've abandoned their homes in the past few weeks subsequent to the Myanmar army began a relentless assault of aerial attacks, and a ground offensive in insurgent-controlled zones nationwide.

Residents of Chin state have characterized the regime's newest campaign as the fiercest it has conducted in more than three years. Countless refugees have looked for safety in other parts of the state. Iang is among a group that crossed the border into India's Mizoram state. Now housed in a rundown badminton court in Vaphai village, the group's few belongings they were able to carry are contained in sacks.

An elderly man has had to escape his village at the age of 80, living in improvised dwellings in forests for days, before finally reaching a secure location.

"We're afraid of our own government. They are exceptionally brutal. Their military has come into our and other villages in the past, they've detained individuals, mistreated them, and burned down homes," he says.

It is challenging to interview Burmese civilians without restriction. Myanmar's regime restricts unfettered entry in the country for international reporters. It took over the country in a putsch in February 2021, shortly after the last election.

Civilian Toll and Deliberate Strikes

As part of the newest operation, the junta in the past week struck a medical facility in Rakhine State. Insurgent forces in Rakhine say at least 30 people were lost their lives and more than 70 hurt.

A monitoring body reports that from September onward at least several educational institutions and several churches in Chin State have been attacked by regime air raids, causing the death of 12 people including six children.

Evidence confirms the shelling of a school in Vanha village on 13 October. Two students perished as they were in class. The bombs devastated their classrooms wounding more than a dozen other students.

Once again, a man and his small family – a wife and two young children - have been made homeless. Previously in 2021, shortly after the coup, their home was razed in an air strike. They reconstructed their existence in another village. Now they're displaced a second time.

"Words fail me to explain how difficult and traumatic it is and what a heart-wrenching call it was to make to leave. But we had to do it to preserve our lives," he says.

A Questioned Election

The National League for Democracy party, which won decisive victories in the two elections prior to the coup, is banned from running as its key figures are imprisoned.

"This vote is unwanted. Because the military lacks the ability to govern our country. They only work for the interest of their senior officers. When the elected administration was in power, we experienced a taste of democracy. But now all we do is cry and shed tears," says the refugee.

Iang Za Kim believes the election will be manipulated. "If we voted for a party opposed to the military, I believe they will tamper with the results and claim we voted for them."

The poll will occur in phases, with a result projected around the end of January. Resistance forces have declared it a farce.

Resistance Frontline and Sacrifices

Within a compound of a leading insurgent force operating in the state, a senior official states: "This process is only being held to perpetuate military dictatorship. It's not about the will of the people."

He indicates the areas where the most intense fighting is continuing. "Units of hundreds of soldiers trying to advance into the northern part of Chin state from multiple fronts," he says. "The infantry are being backed up by air strikes, artillery fire and by UAVs."

Access to such bases is very limited. Set amid wooded hills, it is the heart of the fight against the junta in Chin state.

In a hospital at the base, several injured fighters were brought in overnight and had to undergo hours of surgery. Some of them have had to undergo surgeries.

Many of them were just schoolboys when the coup occurred in 2021. Recently come of age, they've set aside their dreams to fight on the frontline against the junta.

"During the pullback we ran forward and I triggered a landmine. We were injured in the explosion. Then we were targeted by aircraft. The airstrikes make things very challenging for us," says one injured fighter. "Despite my injury, if I must sacrifice my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that future generations have a brighter future."

The consequence of the intensity of the ongoing operation is visible in ward after ward at the hospital.

However, it's the backing and courage of many thousands of youths who took up weapons that have helped the rebels make notable progress against a better-equipped rival.

Individuals such as 80-year-old the elderly refugee hope that post-poll, the junta will pull back, and he will be able to repatriate.

"However, I doubt I will live to see democracy restored in Myanmar," he says. "I wish my children and grandchildren can witness it some day."