🔗 Share this article Across Resistance-Occupied Burma, Ordinary People Confront Ruinous Aerial Bombardments and a Fraudulent Election A displaced woman was forced to abandon her home following the regime carried out air strikes nearby. During the evening last month, Iang Za Kim listened to explosions in a adjacent village, and subsequently fighter jets soaring above. She ran out her home to see plumes of smoke from a distance. "We were terrified. We feared the regime's jets would bomb us too. So we seized our essentials – a bit of food and clothing and ran into the jungles around our village." Iang's face quivers as she narrates the events of what transpired on 26 November in her village, found in Myanmar's western Chin area. She belongs to numerous people who've evacuated their homes in the last month subsequent to the national armed forces began a intensive operation of aerial attacks, and a ground offensive in insurgent-controlled zones across the country. A great number of people have fled to India to escape the unrest in Burma. People in Chin state have labeled the regime's newest campaign as the most intense it has conducted in over three years. Countless refugees have looked for safety in other parts of the state. Iang belongs to a group that made the border crossing into the Indian state of Mizoram. Now housed in a dilapidated badminton court in Vaphai, the group's few belongings they were able to carry are packed in plastic sacks. Ral Uk Thang has had to escape his village at the age of 80, residing in improvised dwellings in forests for days, prior to eventually 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 arrested people, abused them, and burned down homes," he says. It is difficult to converse with Burmese civilians freely. Myanmar's regime prohibits open movement in the country for overseas correspondents. It seized control of the country in a military takeover in February 2021, shortly after the last election. Civilian Toll and Deliberate Attacks As part of the newest operation, the junta in the past week struck a hospital in Rakhine. Insurgent forces in Rakhine report at least 30 people were killed and more than 70 injured. A monitoring body reports that since mid-September at least several educational institutions and a number of places of worship in Chin State have been targeted by military bombing, causing the death of 12 people comprising six children. Evidence confirms the bombing of a school in a village on 13 October. Two students perished as they were studying. The bombs tore through their classrooms wounding more than a dozen other students. A refugee says the planned elections are a sham. This is the second time, a father and his young family – a wife and two young children - have been uprooted. Previously in 2021, following the coup, their home was burnt down in an air strike. They rebuilt their lives in another village. Now they're homeless again. "I can't find the words to explain how agonizing and challenging it is and what a tough choice it was to make to leave. But we had to do it to survive," he says. A Questioned Election The National League for Democracy party, which won overwhelming majorities in the two elections before the coup, is not participating as most of its senior leaders are in jail. "We reject this election. Because the military is incapable of govern our country. They only work for the benefit of their top officials. When the civilian leadership was in power, we experienced a measure of democracy. But now all we do is cry and shed tears," says Ral Uk Thang. A resident believes the election will be fixed. "If we participated for a party independent from the military, I believe they will steal our votes and claim we voted for them." The poll will be held in rounds, with a result anticipated around the end of January. Insurgent organizations have called it a farce. Insurgent Battleground and Sacrifices Within a compound of a key resistance organization operating in the state, a senior official states: "This election is only being held to prolong military dictatorship. It's not about the public's voice." He highlights the areas where the most intense fighting is ongoing. "There are columns of hundreds of soldiers trying to push into the northern part of Chin state from several axes," he says. "The infantry are being supported by air strikes, artillery fire and by drone units." A resistance member was severely wounded resisting the military. Visits to such bases is extremely rare. Situated in wooded hills, it is the center of the fight against the junta in Chin state. At a medical facility at the base, numerous injured fighters had arrived overnight and had to undergo extensive medical procedures. Some of them have had to undergo limb removals. Several were just schoolboys when the coup occurred in 2021. Recently come of age, they've abandoned their dreams to engage in combat against the junta. "While opposing forces withdrew 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 difficult for us," says one injured fighter. "Despite my injury, should I lose my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that those who follow have a brighter future." The consequence of the intensity of the latest offensive is evident in room after room at the hospital. However, it's the support and grit of many thousands of young people who took up weapons that have helped the rebels make significant gains against a far stronger rival. Some like 80-year-old the man hope that post-poll, the junta will pull back, and he will be able to return home. "However, I doubt I will live to see democracy restored in Myanmar," he says. "I pray my children and grandchildren can witness it some day."