Within Insurgent-Controlled Burma, Civilians Face Catastrophic Aerial Bombardments and a Sham Vote

During the evening last month, Iang Za Kim was startled by detonations in a nearby village, then warplanes flying overhead. She hurried outside her home to see a smoke cloud in the distance.

"We were terrified. We feared the military's aircraft might attack us too. So we grabbed what we could – provisions and garments and escaped to the jungles encircling our village."

Iang's face quivers as she narrates the events of what transpired on 26 November in her village, situated in Myanmar's western Chin State. She is one of numerous people who've evacuated their homes in the past few weeks following the Burmese military launched a relentless assault of bombing runs, coupled with a land assault in insurgent-controlled zones throughout the nation.

Residents of Chin state have labeled the military's recent operation as the most intense it has conducted in the past three years. A large number of those uprooted have sought refuge in other regions of the state. Iang belongs to a group that crossed the border into India's Mizoram state. Now housed in a decrepit badminton court in a village, the group's meager possessions they were able to carry are stored in plastic sacks.

Ral Uk Thang has had to escape his village at the age of 80, residing in makeshift shelters in jungles for days, until at last finding refuge.

"We are terrified of our own government. They are extremely cruel. Their military has entered our and other villages in the past, they've detained individuals, mistreated them, and set houses ablaze," he says.

It isn't easy to converse with Burmese civilians freely. Myanmar's ruling junta prohibits unfettered entry in the country for international reporters. It took over the country in a putsch in February 2021, not long after the last election.

Humanitarian Toll and Targeted Strikes

As part of the newest operation, the junta in the past week attacked a hospital in Rakhine State. Insurgent forces in Rakhine claim at least 30 people were lost their lives and more than 70 wounded.

A monitoring body states that over recent months at least three schools and six churches in Chin State have been targeted by military bombing, killing 12 people including six children.

Reports indicate the bombing of a school in Vanha village on 13 October. Two students perished as they were in class. The bombs tore through their classrooms wounding more than a dozen other students.

Once again, a father and his small family – a wife and two young children - have been made homeless. Back in 2021, following the coup, their home was razed in an air strike. They reconstructed their existence in a new community. Now they're without a home once more.

"I can't find the words to explain how agonizing and challenging it is and what a difficult decision it was to make to leave. But we had to do it to stay alive," he says.

A Questioned Electoral Process

The National League for Democracy party, which won decisive victories in the two elections prior to the coup, will not be contesting as the majority of its leadership are imprisoned.

"This vote is unwanted. Because the military is incapable of govern our country. They only work for the gain of their senior officers. When the previous government was in power, we experienced a bit 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 voted for a party not allied with the military, I believe they will steal our votes and claim we voted for them."

The election will be held in phases, with a result anticipated around the end of January. Rebel groups have called it a pretense.

Resistance Battleground and Losses

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

He points out the areas where the fiercest combat is taking place. "Units of hundreds of soldiers trying to advance into the northern part of Chin state from several axes," he says. "The infantry are being backed up by air strikes, artillery fire and by UAVs."

Access to such bases is highly unusual. Located within thickly forested mountains, it is the core of the fight against 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 teenagers when the coup occurred in 2021. Just about adults now, they've abandoned their dreams to serve in the conflict against the junta.

"During the pullback we ran forward and I stepped on a landmine. We were injured in the explosion. Then we were struck from above. The airstrikes make things very hard for us," says one injured fighter. "Although I am amputated, should I lose my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that those who follow have a better life."

The consequence of the ferocity of the recent campaign is visible in ward after ward at the hospital.

Nevertheless, it's the determination and resolve of countless numbers of young people who took up weapons that have helped the rebels make significant gains against a better-equipped rival.

Individuals such as 80-year-old the elderly refugee hope that after the election, the junta will retreat, and he will be able to return home.

"Yet I believe I will live to see democracy reinstated in Myanmar," he says. "I hope my children and grandchildren can see it some day."