The Last Bastion of Junta Power in Myanmar

I was driving with the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a faith-based frontline aid organization, down one of the few remaining paved roads that had survived years of war. One of the Rangers in the back of the pickup truck began banging on the cab’s ceiling—a signal to pull over. The driver swerved aggressively, quickly steering the vehicle into the jungle. Once under the cover of trees, everyone jumped out and took shelter in a drainage ditch, eyes fixed on the sky. Above us, the faint sound of jets echoed as they crisscrossed over our position. “Before they attack, you’ll hear the pitch change when they dive,” a veteran soldier said. We listened in silence, but the attack never came.