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In the dead of night last month, Iang Za Kim was startled by detonations in a nearby village, then warplanes soaring above. She hurried outside her home to see plumes of smoke in the distance.

"We were terrified. We believed the military's aircraft would bomb us too. So we grabbed what we could – provisions and garments and fled into the forests around our village."

She visibly shakes as she narrates the story of what occurred on 26 November in her community, situated in Myanmar's western Chin area. She belongs to thousands of civilians who've abandoned their homes in recent weeks subsequent to the Burmese military launched a relentless assault of bombing runs, alongside infantry advances in resistance territory nationwide.

Residents of Chin state have labeled the regime's newest campaign as the most brutal it has unleashed in the past three years. Many of the displaced have found shelter in different areas of the state. Iang belongs to a group that crossed the border into the Indian state of Mizoram. Currently sheltered in a dilapidated badminton court in Vaphai village, the group's few belongings they were able to carry are contained in plastic sacks.

Ral Uk Thang has had to escape his village at the age of 80, residing in temporary huts in forests for days, before finally making it to safety.

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

It isn't easy to interview Burmese civilians openly. Myanmar's ruling junta prohibits open movement in the country for overseas correspondents. It assumed power in the country in a coup in February 2021, not long after the last election.

Civilian Cost and Targeted Attacks

In its most recent campaign, the junta in the past week attacked a medical facility in Rakhine. Resistance organizations in Rakhine say at least 30 people were killed and more than 70 wounded.

A monitoring body says that over recent months at least three schools and six churches in Chin State have been attacked by junta airstrikes, causing the death of 12 people among them six children.

Verification shows the shelling of a school in a community on 13 October. Two students were killed as they were attending lessons. The bombs devastated their classrooms harming more than a dozen other students.

This is the second time, Bawi Nei Lian and his small family – a wife and two young children - have been made homeless. In 2021, soon after the coup, their home was burnt down in an air strike. They rebuilt their lives in another village. Now they're without a home once more.

"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 survive," he says.

A Disputed Vote

A prominent political group, which won landslides in the two elections before the coup, is not participating as most of its senior leaders are detained.

"This vote is unwanted. Because the military is incapable of govern our country. They only work for the interest of their top officials. When the previous government was in power, we experienced a taste of democracy. But now all we do is grieve and lament," says Ral Uk Thang.

Another displaced woman believes the election will be manipulated. "If we participated for a party opposed to the military, I believe they will steal our votes and claim we voted for them."

The poll will occur in stages, with a result projected around the end of January. Resistance forces have declared it a sham.

Resistance Battleground and Losses

Within a compound of a key resistance organization operating in the state, a vice chairman states: "This election is only being held to prolong military dictatorship. It's not about the people's choice."

He indicates the areas where the heaviest clashes is continuing. "Units of hundreds of soldiers trying to push into the northern part of Chin state from several axes," he says. "The soldiers are being supported by air strikes, artillery fire and by drone units."

Visits to such bases is highly unusual. Located within wooded hills, it is the core of the opposition to the junta in Chin state.

Within a clinic at the base, several injured fighters had arrived overnight and had to undergo hours of surgery. Some of them have had to undergo surgeries.

A significant number were just schoolboys when the coup occurred in 2021. Recently come of age, they've abandoned their dreams to serve in the conflict against the junta.

"During the pullback we ran forward and I detonated 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 brighter future."

The impact of the intensity of the ongoing operation is apparent in every corner at the hospital.

Yet, it's the backing and courage of many thousands of youngsters who picked up arms that have helped the rebels make significant gains against a much more powerful rival.

People including 80-year-old the elderly refugee hope that post-poll, the junta will withdraw, and he will be able to repatriate.

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