In Resistance-Occupied Burma, Ordinary People Face Catastrophic Air Strikes and a Sham Election

In the dead of night last month, a woman listened to explosions in a neighbouring village, and subsequently fighter jets circling the area. She ran out her home to see a smoke cloud far away.

"We were petrified. We feared the military's aircraft might attack us too. So we took what we could carry – provisions and garments and escaped to the jungles surrounding our village."

Her face trembles as she recounts the events of what transpired on 26 November in K-Haimual, situated in Myanmar's western Chin State. She is one of thousands of civilians who've fled their homes in recent weeks subsequent to the Myanmar army launched a relentless assault of bombing runs, coupled with a land assault in insurgent-controlled zones nationwide.

Some from Chin state have characterized the regime's newest campaign as the most brutal it has conducted in over three years. Many of the displaced have found shelter in other parts of the state. Iang belongs to a group that made the border crossing into India's Mizoram state. Now housed in a rundown badminton court in a village, the group's meager possessions they were able to carry are contained in sacks.

An elderly man has had to abandon his residence at the age of 80, staying in improvised dwellings in jungles for days, until at last finding refuge.

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

It isn't easy to interview Burmese civilians freely. Myanmar's ruling junta restricts unfettered entry in the country for international reporters. It took over the country in a coup in February 2021, shortly after the last election.

Civilian Cost and Targeted Strikes

During its latest offensive, the junta recently targeted a hospital in a western state. Insurgent forces in Rakhine say at least 30 people were lost their lives and more than 70 wounded.

An advocacy group says that over recent months at least multiple schools and a number of places of worship in Chin State have been targeted by military bombing, claiming the lives of 12 people among them six children.

Reports indicate the destruction of a school in a village on 13 October. Two students perished as they were attending lessons. The bombs ripped through their classrooms injuring more than a dozen other students.

For a second time, Bawi Nei Lian and his small family – a wife and two young children - have been made homeless. Back in 2021, following the coup, their home was destroyed by fire in an air strike. They reconstructed their existence in K-Haimual village. Now they're homeless again.

"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 stay alive," he says.

A Questioned Electoral Process

The former ruling party, which won landslides in the two elections before the coup, will not be contesting as the majority of its leadership are in jail.

"We don't want the election. Because the military is incapable of govern our country. They only work for the benefit of their top officials. When the previous government was in power, we experienced a measure of democracy. But now all we do is cry and shed tears," says the elderly man.

A resident believes the election will be rigged. "If we participated for a party opposed to the military, I believe they will steal our votes and claim we voted for them."

The election will be held in stages, with a result anticipated around the end of January. Resistance forces have labeled it a farce.

Insurgent Frontline and Losses

In a headquarters of a leading insurgent force operating in the state, a vice chairman states: "This vote is only being held to perpetuate military dictatorship. It's not about the public's voice."

He indicates the areas where the heaviest clashes is continuing. "Units of hundreds of soldiers trying to advance into the northern part of Chin state from four directions," he says. "The infantry are being backed up by air strikes, artillery fire and by unmanned aerial vehicles."

Access to such bases is extremely rare. Set amid wooded hills, it is the core of the fight against the junta in Chin state.

Within a clinic at the base, several injured fighters had arrived overnight and had to undergo extensive medical procedures. Some of them have had to undergo limb removals.

A significant number were just schoolboys when the coup occurred in 2021. Now young adults, they've let go of their dreams to fight on the frontline against the junta.

"During the pullback we ran forward and I stepped on a landmine. We were injured in the explosion. Then we were targeted by aircraft. The airstrikes make things very difficult for us," explains a combatant. "I've lost a leg, should I lose my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that coming generations have a brighter future."

The impact of the intensity of the latest offensive is visible in ward after ward at the hospital.

However, it's the determination and resolve of many thousands of youngsters who joined the fight that have helped the rebels make significant gains against a better-equipped rival.

Individuals such as 80-year-old Ral Uk Thang hope that following the vote, the junta will retreat, and he will be able to go back home.

"But I don't think I will live to see democracy reestablished in Myanmar," he says. "I pray my children and grandchildren can experience it some day."