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During the evening last month, a resident listened to explosions in a neighbouring village, and subsequently military aircraft soaring above. She hurried outside her home to see smoke rising far away.

"We were petrified. We thought the military's aircraft might attack us too. So we took what we could carry – provisions and garments and ran into the forests encircling our village."

She visibly shakes as she tells the events of what occurred on 26 November in her community, found in Myanmar's western Chin area. She is one of numerous people who've abandoned their homes in recent weeks after the Burmese military began a relentless assault of aerial attacks, coupled with a land assault in insurgent-controlled zones throughout the nation.

Some from Chin state have described the military's recent operation as the most brutal it has unleashed in the past three years. Many of the displaced have sought refuge in other parts of the state. Iang is part of a group that crossed the border into the Indian state of Mizoram. Currently sheltered in a rundown badminton court in a village, the group's meager possessions they were able to carry are packed in sacks.

An octogenarian has had to flee his home at the age of 80, living in makeshift shelters in the wilderness for days, before finally finding refuge.

"We're afraid of our own government. They are incredibly harsh. Their military has come into our and other villages in the past, they've detained individuals, tortured them, and destroyed residences," he says.

It is challenging to converse with Burmese civilians without restriction. Myanmar's military government prohibits unfettered entry in the country for foreign journalists. It seized control of the country in a military takeover in February 2021, not long after the last election.

Civilian Toll and Deliberate Strikes

During its latest offensive, the junta last week struck a hospital in Rakhine. Rebel groups in Rakhine say at least 30 people were slain and more than 70 wounded.

A human rights organization says that since mid-September at least several educational institutions and several churches in Chin State have been attacked by military bombing, claiming the lives of 12 people among them six children.

Reports indicate the bombing of a school in a village on 13 October. Two students lost their lives as they were attending lessons. The bombs devastated their classrooms harming 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. Previously in 2021, shortly after the coup, their home was burnt down in an air strike. They rebuilt their lives in K-Haimual village. Now they're displaced a second time.

"Words fail me to explain how painful and hard 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 Vote

The former ruling party, which won decisive victories in the two elections preceding the coup, will not be contesting as most of its senior leaders are imprisoned.

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

Another displaced woman believes the election will be fixed. "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 poll will occur in phases, with a result projected around the end of January. Insurgent organizations have labeled it a pretense.

Insurgent Frontline and Sacrifices

At a base of a key resistance organization operating in the state, a vice chairman states: "This process is only being held to extend military dictatorship. It's not about the public's voice."

He indicates the areas where the most intense fighting is continuing. "Units of hundreds of soldiers trying to enter the northern part of Chin state from several axes," he says. "The infantry are being backed up by air strikes, artillery fire and by drone units."

Visits to such bases is very limited. Set amid wooded hills, it is the center of the resistance against the junta in Chin state.

In a hospital at the base, a group of injured fighters were brought in overnight and had to undergo extensive medical procedures. Some of them have had to undergo surgeries.

Many of them were just teenagers when the coup occurred in 2021. Now young adults, they've set aside their dreams to serve in the conflict against the junta.

"During the pullback we ran forward and I triggered a landmine. We were injured in the explosion. Then we were attacked from the air. The airstrikes make things very hard for us," states a wounded rebel. "I've lost a leg, if I must sacrifice my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that coming generations have a improved existence."

The impact of the ferocity of the ongoing operation is evident in room after room at the hospital.

However, it's the backing and courage of tens of thousands of young people who took up weapons that have helped the rebels make notable progress against a far stronger rival.

People including 80-year-old Ral Uk Thang hope that after the election, the junta will withdraw, and he will be able to return home.

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