Air Strikes and Displacement Ahead of Dec 28 Election

MYANMAR BORDER :  The Burmese military junta has intensified its scorched-earth campaign across western Myanmar, launching a massive wave of air strikes and ground offensives to reclaim territory before phased national elections begin on December 28.

Thousands of civilians have fled across the border into India’s Mizoram state or into deep jungles to escape what local monitors describe as the fiercest military activity in over three years.

The offensive is not merely a territorial battle but a coercive tactic to force participation in an election that international observers and rebel groups have labeled a sham. Many displaced civilians, currently sheltering in makeshift camps, report that the military is using the threat of imprisonment and torture to ensure voter turnout.

“If we are caught and refuse to vote, they will put us in jail,” said Iang Za Kim, who fled her village of K-Haimual following jet bombings on November 26. “We’ve run away so that we don’t have to vote.”

The junta’s latest strikes have increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure. Recent reports include:

• An attack on a hospital that allegedly killed 30 people and injured 70.
• Since mid-September, at least three schools and six churches have been hit.
• A verified bombing of a school on October 13 resulted in the deaths of two students, aged 7 and 12.

The military government has not responded to inquiries regarding these targeted strikes on civilian areas.

With the National League for Democracy (NLD) barred from the ballot and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remaining behind bars, resistance groups like the Chin National Front (CNF) say the election is a strategy to prolong the dictatorship.

“This election is only being held to prolong military dictatorship,” said Sui Khar, Vice Chairman of the CNF. “In Chin State, they hardly control any area, so how can they hold a legitimate election?”

The election results are expected by late January, though the escalating conflict suggests that much of the country will remain a battlefield during the polling period.