Myanmar pro-democracy fighters in a battered pickup truck drive past abandoned and bombed-out houses in the eastern city of Loikaw, on their way to the front lines of the battle to capture their first state capital from the junta. They are part of the dozens of "People's Defence Force" groups (PDFs) that have sprung up across Myanmar to fight the military's 2021 coup and are now determined to capture Loikaw and deal a blow to the country's rulers. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES