Across Insurgent-Controlled Burma, Residents Face Catastrophic Bombing Raids and a Fraudulent Vote

Late one night last month, a resident listened to explosions in a adjacent village, followed by military aircraft circling the area. She hurried outside her home to see plumes of smoke far away.

"We were horrified. We feared the junta's planes might attack us too. So we took what we could carry – some food and clothes and escaped to the woodlands surrounding our village."

She visibly shakes as she recounts the events of what transpired on 26 November in her village, located in Myanmar's western Chin region. She is one of countless residents who've fled their homes in recent weeks after the national armed forces began a relentless assault of air strikes, and a ground offensive in resistance territory across the country.

People in Chin state have labeled the junta's latest offensive as the most brutal it has launched in the past three years. Many of the displaced have looked for safety in different areas of the state. Iang is among a group that crossed the border into India's Mizoram state. Now housed in a dilapidated badminton court in Vaphai village, the group's few belongings they were able to carry are packed in sacks.

An elderly man has had to escape his village at the age of 80, staying in improvised dwellings in the wilderness for days, prior to eventually making it to safety.

"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, tortured them, and burned down homes," he says.

It isn't easy to converse with Burmese civilians freely. Myanmar's regime restricts free access in the country for international reporters. It seized control of the country in a coup in February 2021, soon after the last election.

Civilian Toll and Deliberate Attacks

In its most recent campaign, the junta recently struck a clinic in Rakhine State. Resistance organizations in Rakhine say at least 30 people were killed and more than 70 hurt.

A monitoring body reports that from September onward at least several educational institutions and six churches in Chin State have been targeted by junta airstrikes, killing 12 people among them six children.

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

This is the second time, Bawi Nei Lian and his young family – a wife and two young children - have been uprooted. In 2021, following the coup, their home was destroyed by fire in an air strike. They rebuilt their lives in another village. Now they're homeless again.

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

A Disputed Election

A prominent political group, which won landslides in the two elections before the coup, will not be contesting as its key figures are in jail.

"We don't want the election. Because the military does not know how to govern our country. They only work for the benefit of their top officials. When the previous government was in power, we experienced a taste of democracy. But now all we do is weep and mourn," says Ral Uk Thang.

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

The vote will take place in stages, with a result expected around the end of January. Rebel groups have labeled it a sham.

Resistance Frontline and Losses

Within a compound of a key resistance organization operating in the state, a senior official states: "This vote is only being held to extend military dictatorship. It's not about the public's voice."

He points out the areas where the heaviest clashes is taking place. "Units of hundreds of soldiers trying to push into the northern part of Chin state from four directions," he says. "The troops are being aided by air strikes, artillery fire and by drone units."

Access to such bases is very limited. Located within dense jungle highlands, it is the heart of the opposition to the junta in Chin state.

At a medical facility at the base, a group of injured fighters were admitted overnight and had to undergo lengthy operations. Some of them have had to undergo amputations.

Several were just youths when the coup occurred in 2021. Now young adults, they've abandoned their dreams to engage in combat against the junta.

"During the pullback we ran forward and I detonated a landmine. We were injured in the explosion. Then we were struck from above. The airstrikes make things very difficult for us," says one injured fighter. "Although I am amputated, should I lose my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that future generations have a brighter future."

The effect of the intensity of the latest offensive is apparent in every corner at the hospital.

Nevertheless, it's the backing and courage of tens of thousands of young people who picked up arms that have helped the rebels make notable progress against a much more powerful rival.

People including 80-year-old the man hope that following the vote, the junta will pull back, and he will be able to repatriate.

"However, I doubt I will live to see democracy reestablished in Myanmar," he says. "I hope my children and grandchildren can experience it some day."