Since the Burma coup in 2021, the resistance has been fighting to rid the country of the State Administrative Council (SAC), the military junta that overturned a democratic election and seized power.
Since then, the military has waged a war of repression, torture, and destruction against the people of Burma, particularly against ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians.
In the ethnic states and across the country, resistance armies have had success, recapturing about 80 percent of Burma’s territory. But the junta has the decisive advantage of aircraft, as the resistance has none.
The junta is supplied with weapons, money, and jet fuel from Russia and China, while resistance soldiers fight without pay, arming themselves with whatever weapons and equipment they can scrounge or make themselves.
The resistance fought well when the battlefield was the jungles and mountains, but now that the war is shifting to urban terrain, and with the junta dramatically expanding its drone capabilities, the fight has become far more difficult.
Pasaung is a crucial city in Karenni State. It was previously held by the junta, but in recent months the resistance has captured half of it. Soldiers were eager to push forward and take the rest of the city, which would open vital supply lines to Thailand.
On the morning of the Battle of Pasaung, I woke at 1 a.m., grabbed my body armor and equipment, and went to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) barracks. From there, they transported me to the front.
Along the way, we passed countless truckloads of soldiers. It was as if the entire country had mobilized.
While the junta forces have state-of-the-art weapons from Russia and China, the resistance makes do with whatever weapons they can scrounge, make, or capture. The heat is intense, and the humidity during the rainy season is oppressive.
If you wear body armor, your shirt will be soaked through in seconds. Consequently, many resistance soldiers don’t wear a shirt under their armor. Sadly, many also have no armor at all and go to war shirtless.
The most common footwear are Chinese-made jungle boots, which I have also adopted—worn without socks to avoid jungle rot that destroys your feet. Many resistance soldiers wear flip-flops, slippers, or imitation Crocs, while some choose to go barefoot.
Near the front, I met up with the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a faith-based frontline aid organization that has been providing combat medical assistance and training in Burma.
FBR has been active in Burma for over 25 years, and their presence underscores just how long this war has been going on. It began in 1948 but spread to engulf the entire country after the coup.
That means the war started before the parents, and probably even the grandparents, of most of the current soldiers were born.
Prior to the coup, there had been a national ceasefire. While fighting continued in some areas, there was relative peace in places like Karenni State. Many soldiers from those regions therefore consider the war to have begun in 2021.
Despite growing up with the chance to attend school and live somewhat normal lives, the four and a half years since the coup now represent more than a quarter of their lives, given how young they are.
Spending time with them on my many missions into the country, it seems they have adjusted to a new norm, where the war touches every aspect of every person’s life, every single day.
While artillery pounded and jets crisscrossed overhead, dropping ordnance, trucks from the various ethnic resistance armies arrived at the Free Burma Rangers casualty collection point, delivering both the wounded and the dead.
The Rangers worked on patients under cover in the jungle, with no electricity, no machines, and no refrigeration, meaning blood had to be taken directly from soldiers to save the lives of their comrades.
Resistance soldiers gathered at the casualty collection point, taking shelter as best they could while waiting to hear whether their comrades had survived.
The wounded soldier’s hand grenade and weapon are stained with blood. The blue tape indicates which unit he belongs to. With multiple ethnic armed organizations teaming up against the junta, it can sometimes be difficult to tell who is a friend and who is an enemy.
The weapons and equipment of the wounded soldiers are tossed to the side, out of the way, so the medics can operate. One very endearing aspect of this culture is that no one ever steals anything, not even food or money.
The trucks are all open with our equipment, even my cameras and the soldiers’ weapons, and yet we can park anywhere and the gear will not disappear.
After spending about half a day with FBR, I hopped onto a truck returning to the front. Story coming soon.
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