Stories of the horrors of war continue to spill out of Myanmar. A one year old child was shot in the eye. A protestor watched a friend get shot in the head three times. Since the coup began, over 900 unarmed protestors have been killed by the military junta. As the people of Myanmar watch their families and friends meeting violent deaths, is it any wonder that many are responding with violence and combat?

Many of the younger generation, Generation Z, grew up under civilian rule of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Having never experienced military rule, they are less accepting of the military takeover and have been on the forefront of Myanmar’s anti-coup protest movement. Many of these young men and women have joined ethnic minority rebel armies in Myanmar’s borderlands, such as the Kachin Independence Army. The combat training they receive is physically demanding and entirely new to these young civilians — some as young as 17 years old — but they are determined to resist the military junta however they can.

Recently, the Chin Defense Force (CDF) engaged the junta in battle and killed Zaw Zaw Soe, a military lieutenant colonel. Fighting after his death has intensified in the area, as more military troops are deployed to the frontline. The CDF is awaiting instructions from Myanmar’s shadow civilian government, the National Unity Government (NUG). The NUG has announced that about 8,000 People’s Defense Force (PDF) fighters will soon be ready to deploy and instructed the CDF to await their signal for full-scale war against the junta. As a PDF spokesperson in Yangon told Myanmar Now, “We are currently engaging in guerrilla warfare, but please know that it won’t be long before we begin an all-out battle.”