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In the dead of night last month, Iang Za Kim heard blasts in a adjacent village, and subsequently military aircraft circling the area. She dashed from her home to see a smoke cloud far away.

"We were petrified. We thought the military's aircraft would bomb us too. So we seized our essentials – provisions and garments and fled into the jungles encircling our village."

Her face trembles as she recounts the story of what occurred on 26 November in K-Haimual, located in Myanmar's western Chin region. She belongs to numerous people who've abandoned their homes in the past few weeks subsequent to the Myanmar army launched a intensive operation of air strikes, and a ground offensive in rebel-held areas across the country.

Some from Chin state have described the military's recent operation as the most intense it has launched in over three years. Many of the displaced have found shelter in other parts of the state. Iang is part of a group that made the border crossing into Mizoram in India. Now housed in a rundown badminton court in Vaphai, the group's meager possessions they were able to carry are contained in polyethylene bags.

An octogenarian has had to flee his home at the age of 80, staying in temporary huts in jungles for days, until at last reaching a secure location.

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

It is challenging to converse with Burmese civilians without restriction. Myanmar's ruling junta restricts open movement in the country for overseas correspondents. It took over the country in a coup in February 2021, shortly after the last election.

Civilian Cost and Deliberate Strikes

As part of the newest operation, the junta in the past week attacked a medical facility in Rakhine State. Insurgent forces in Rakhine claim at least 30 people were slain and more than 70 injured.

A human rights organization states that since mid-September at least multiple schools and several churches in Chin State have been attacked by junta airstrikes, causing the death of 12 people comprising six children.

Evidence confirms the bombing of a school in Vanha village on 13 October. Two students lost their lives as they were in class. The bombs ripped through 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 displaced. Back in 2021, following the coup, their home was destroyed by fire in an air strike. They rebuilt their lives in K-Haimual village. Now they're displaced a second time.

"It's hard to express 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 survive," he says.

A Questioned Vote

A prominent political group, which won decisive victories in the two elections prior to the coup, is banned from running as its key figures are imprisoned.

"We reject this election. Because the military is incapable of govern our country. They only work for the interest of their senior officers. When the civilian leadership was in power, we experienced a measure of democracy. But now all we do is weep and mourn," says Ral Uk Thang.

A resident believes the election will be fixed. "If we participated for a party not allied with the military, I believe they will tamper with the results and claim we voted for them."

The poll will take place in rounds, with a result projected around the end of January. Resistance forces have declared it a pretense.

Insurgent Battleground and Losses

In a headquarters of a prominent rebel group operating in the state, a leader states: "This vote is only being held to perpetuate military dictatorship. It's not about the public's voice."

He points out the areas where the heaviest clashes is continuing. "There are columns of hundreds of soldiers trying to advance into the northern part of Chin state from four directions," he says. "The infantry are being supported by air strikes, artillery fire and by UAVs."

Visits to such bases is very limited. Set amid thickly forested mountains, it is the core of the opposition to the junta in Chin state.

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

Several were just schoolboys when the coup occurred in 2021. Just about adults now, they've let go of their dreams to engage in combat against the junta.

"While opposing forces withdrew 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 challenging for us," states a wounded rebel. "I've lost a leg, should I lose my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that future generations have a brighter future."

The consequence of the intensity of the ongoing operation is apparent in ward after ward at the hospital.

Yet, it's the determination and resolve 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 elderly refugee hope that after the election, the junta will withdraw, and he will be able to repatriate.

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