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During the evening last month, Iang Za Kim heard explosions in a nearby village, then fighter jets circling the area. She ran out her home to see a smoke cloud from a distance.

"We were petrified. We thought the military's aircraft would bomb us too. So we took what we could carry – some food and clothes and escaped to the woodlands encircling our village."

Iang's face quivers as she tells the story of what occurred on 26 November in K-Haimual, found in Myanmar's western Chin region. She's among countless residents who've evacuated their homes in recent weeks after the Burmese military launched a relentless assault of air strikes, coupled with a land assault in resistance territory throughout the nation.

Some from Chin state have characterized the junta's latest offensive as the most brutal it has conducted in over three years. Many of the displaced have sought refuge in other regions of the state. Iang is part of a group that entered into the Indian state of Mizoram. Now housed in a dilapidated badminton court in Vaphai village, the group's meager possessions they were able to carry are contained in polyethylene bags.

An octogenarian has had to abandon his residence at the age of 80, residing in makeshift shelters in the wilderness for days, until at last making it to safety.

"We're afraid of our own government. They are exceptionally brutal. Their military has entered our and other villages in the past, they've detained individuals, abused them, and set houses ablaze," he says.

It is difficult to converse with Burmese civilians openly. Myanmar's military government does not allow unfettered entry in the country for international reporters. It seized control of the country in a coup in February 2021, shortly after the last election.

Civilian Cost and Deliberate Attacks

During its latest offensive, the junta last week attacked a hospital in a western state. Insurgent forces in Rakhine claim at least 30 people were killed and more than 70 wounded.

A monitoring body reports that over recent months at least multiple schools and a number of places of worship in Chin State have been hit by military bombing, claiming the lives of 12 people among them six children.

Verification shows the bombing of a school in a village on 13 October. Two students were killed as they were attending lessons. The bombs tore through their classrooms injuring more than a dozen other students.

Once again, a father and his small family – a wife and two young children - have been uprooted. In 2021, shortly after the coup, their home was razed in an air strike. They reconstructed their existence in K-Haimual village. Now they're displaced a second time.

"I can't find the words to explain how difficult and traumatic it is and what a tough choice it was to make to leave. But we had to do it to preserve our lives," he says.

A Questioned Vote

A prominent political group, which won landslides in the two elections before the coup, is banned from running as the majority of its leadership are imprisoned.

"We don't want the election. Because the military does not know how to govern our country. They only work for the benefit of their high-ranking leaders. When the previous government was in power, we experienced a measure of democracy. But now all we do is grieve and lament," says the elderly man.

Another displaced woman believes the election will be manipulated. "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 take place in phases, with a result expected around the end of January. Resistance forces have labeled it a farce.

Resistance Battleground and Sacrifices

Within a compound of a key resistance organization 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 highlights the areas where the most intense fighting is continuing. "Battalions of hundreds of soldiers trying to push into the northern part of Chin state from multiple fronts," he says. "The infantry are being supported by air strikes, artillery fire and by UAVs."

Visits to such bases is extremely rare. Situated in thickly forested mountains, it is the core of the fight against the junta in Chin state.

In a hospital at the base, numerous injured fighters had arrived overnight and had to undergo lengthy operations. Some of them have had to undergo amputations.

A significant number were just youths when the coup occurred in 2021. Now young adults, they've abandoned their dreams to serve in the conflict against the junta.

"As the enemy was retreating 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 difficult for us," says one injured fighter. "I've lost a leg, even if I've to give up my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that coming generations have a better life."

The impact of the ferocity of the recent campaign is visible in every corner at the hospital.

Yet, it's the determination and resolve of many thousands of youths who joined the fight that have helped the rebels make notable progress against a far stronger rival.

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

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