Battle of Kawkareik

The Battle of Kawkareik or siege of Kawkareik occurred in late October 2022 when the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) escalated fighting in southeastern Myanmar and besieged the district-level capital town of Kawkareik. At the time, it appeared to be a significant first seizure of a major town by anti-junta forces since the renewed civil war.

Fighting broke out on 21 October with a series of surprise attacks on the Asia Highway leading into Kawkareik and at government offices within the town. Ultimately, the resistance forces were unable to take the urban areas due to the junta's air and artillery strikes. Heavy artillery shelling and air strikes from the junta targeted the military garrison base in Ward 2, while the rebel forces engaged in a battle near the General Administration Department office in Ward 7. According to the KNLA, their objective was to draw junta reinforcements away from surrounding positions and was never to take the town.