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Late one night last month, a woman heard detonations in a neighbouring village, and subsequently warplanes soaring above. She hurried outside her home to see smoke rising far away.

"We were horrified. We feared the military's aircraft might attack us too. So we grabbed what we could – provisions and garments and fled into the forests encircling our village."

Her face trembles as she narrates the account of what happened on 26 November in her village, situated in Myanmar's western Chin area. She is one of thousands of civilians who've fled their homes in the last month after the national armed forces initiated a fierce campaign of bombing runs, alongside infantry advances in resistance territory nationwide.

Some from Chin state have labeled the regime's newest campaign as the most intense it has launched in more than three years. Many of the displaced have sought refuge in other parts of the state. Iang belongs to a group that made the border crossing into India's Mizoram state. Currently sheltered in a dilapidated badminton court in Vaphai village, the group's limited items they were able to carry are stored in sacks.

Ral Uk Thang has had to abandon his residence at the age of 80, residing in makeshift shelters in forests for days, until at last reaching a secure location.

"We are terrified of our own government. They are exceptionally brutal. Their military has invaded our and other villages in the past, they've taken citizens, abused them, and set houses ablaze," he says.

It isn't easy to converse with Burmese civilians openly. Myanmar's military government restricts open movement in the country for foreign journalists. It seized control of the country in a putsch in February 2021, soon after the last election.

Civilian Toll and Deliberate Strikes

As part of the newest operation, the junta last week attacked a clinic in a western state. Insurgent forces in Rakhine report at least 30 people were slain and more than 70 hurt.

A human rights organization says that over recent months at least three schools and several churches in Chin State have been hit by junta airstrikes, killing 12 people including six children.

Evidence confirms the destruction of a school in Vanha village on 13 October. Two students perished as they were in class. The bombs tore through their classrooms injuring more than a dozen other students.

Once again, a father and his loved ones – a wife and two young children - have been made homeless. Previously in 2021, following the coup, their home was burnt down in an air strike. They rebuilt their lives in a new community. Now they're displaced a second time.

"It's hard to express to explain how painful and hard it is and what a heart-wrenching call it was to make to leave. But we had to do it to stay alive," he says.

A Disputed Electoral Process

A prominent political group, which won landslides in the two elections before the coup, will not be contesting as its key figures are detained.

"We don't want the election. Because the military is incapable of govern our country. They only work for the benefit of their high-ranking leaders. 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.

Iang Za Kim believes the election will be manipulated. "If we participated for a party independent from the military, I believe they will falsify the outcome 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 Sacrifices

At a base of a leading insurgent force operating in the state, a senior official states: "This vote is only being held to extend military dictatorship. It's not about the public's voice."

He points out the areas where the most intense fighting is ongoing. "Battalions of hundreds of soldiers trying to enter the northern part of Chin state from four directions," he says. "The infantry are being backed up by air strikes, artillery fire and by unmanned aerial vehicles."

Access to such bases is very limited. Situated in dense jungle highlands, it is the center 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 extensive medical procedures. Some of them have had to undergo limb removals.

Several 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.

"While opposing forces withdrew 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 challenging for us," explains a combatant. "Although I am amputated, should I lose my life I'm happy to make the sacrifice so that future generations have a better life."

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

Yet, it's the backing and courage of countless numbers of youths who joined the fight that have helped the rebels make significant gains against a better-equipped rival.

People including 80-year-old the elderly refugee hope that post-poll, the junta will pull back, and he will be able to go back 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."