SAC and allies victory Karen National Union State Administration Council Soe Win The siege of Myawaddy was a significant military engagement that occurred in early 2024 during the Myanmar civil war.

The State Administration Council (SAC), the military junta which seized power in Myanmar in 2021, faced escalating attacks by ethnic Karens, supported by other anti-coup factions.

On 5 April, after a prolonged siege and several days of negotiations, over 600 SAC junta soldiers stationed in Myawaddy agreed to surrender to the KNU and withdrew across the border to Mae Sot,[8] leaving only the 275th Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) positioned near the town's western entrance for defence.

[10] Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and People's Defence Force (PDF) troops were seen at the Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge border crossing in northeastern Myawaddy on the morning of 9 April.

[16] After Myawaddy's capture, the Light Infantry Division 55 (LID 55)–numbering around 1,000 and reportedly led by the junta second-in-command Soe Win–began attempting to cross the Dawna Range to recapture the town in a counteroffensive known as "Operation Aung Zeya".

[23] The conflict escalated on 20 April when the military reportedly used artillery, fighter jets, and helicopter gunships to attack KNLA positions, and resistance forces used 40mm machine guns and dropped 20 bombs from drones, prompting hundreds of people to flee across the Moei River.

[24] On 23 April, junta forces from the LIB 275th, which had been sheltering under the 2nd Friendship Bridge, were assisted by the Karen National Army in reoccupying their base outside Myawaddy.

[27] After being trapped in Kawkareik town for several weeks due to resistance ambushes and attacks, the 1,000-man LID 55 reinforcements sent by the junta to aid forces in Myawaddy in Operation Aung Zeya began advancing through the Dawna Range, reaching the Taw Naw waterfall by 29 April.