{"id":69341,"date":"2017-08-31T14:41:54","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T21:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=69341"},"modified":"2017-08-31T14:41:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T21:41:54","slug":"a-look-at-the-insurgency-behind-myanmar-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/08\/31\/a-look-at-the-insurgency-behind-myanmar-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at the insurgency behind Myanmar attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Dhaka Trbune<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Analysts blame Myanmar’s government for the conditions that led to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)’s creation<\/p>\n

Armed with machetes and rifles, a ragtag band of insurgents comprised of members of Myanmar\u2019s Muslim Rohingya minority launched unprecedented attacks last week, triggering fighting with security forces that has left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh, reports the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the group that claimed responsibility for the attacks:<\/p>\n

The origins of ARSA<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The group was formed last year by Rohingya exiles living in Saudi Arabia, according to the International Crisis Group, which detailed ARSA\u2019s origins in a report last year. It is led by Attullah Abu Amar Jununi, a Pakistani-born Rohingya who grew up in Mecca, and a committee of about 20 Rohingya emigres. ICG says there are indications Jununi and others received militant training in Pakistan and possibly Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

ARSA is believed to receive funding from the Rohingya diaspora and donors in Saudi Arabia, as well as other parts of the Middle East, ICG says.<\/p>\n

Analysts blame Myanmar\u2019s government for the conditions that led to the group\u2019s creation. Successive governments in the predominantly Buddhist country have denied the Rohingya basic rights and citizenship, deeming most of them to be foreign invaders from Bangladesh, even though Rohingya have lived in Myanmar, also known as Burma, for generations. Bangladesh also rejects them.<\/p>\n

The lack of a political solution to their plight, particularly after anti-Muslim violence in 2012 displaced more than 120,000 Rohingya, helped sow the seeds for armed rebellion. The disenfranchisement of Rohingya in the 2015 election, and a regional crackdown on human trafficking that cut off an escape by sea also left Myanmar\u2019s Rohingya feeling boxed in.<\/p>\n

The escalation of the violence<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In ARSA\u2019s first known operation, on October 9, 2016, hundreds of Rohingya men armed with knives, slingshots and rifles attacked three separate police posts in Rakhine state, killing nine officers.<\/p>\n

The army responded with a savage counterinsurgency sweep that lasted months and, according to human rights groups, left entire villages burned to the ground. The United Nations accused security forces of gang-raping women and carrying out extrajudicial killings of children, even babies. The world body says some of the atrocities could amount to crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n

The scale and scope of the latest violence is far greater. ARSA attacked at least two dozen police posts, and satellite imagery analysed by Human Rights Watch indicates homes were set ablaze as well, in an area about five times larger than what was burned in 2016.<\/p>\n

An evolving message<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When the group was first established, the insurgents called themselves the Harakah al-Yaqin, meaning Faith Movement.\u201d In their first video, that name was overlaid with Arabic script, which helped fuel speculation they could be aligned with global terrorist groups.<\/p>\n

Analysts say the group does not appear to have jihadist motivations, and ARSA has stated that it does not associate with terrorist organizations. In recent months, the group has tried to dispel that perception and bolster the argument that they are freedom fighters who took up arms only to defend their people, said David Mathieson, an independent analyst in Yangon, Myanmar.<\/p>\n

The insurgents, who posts statements through a Twitter account, changed their name to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army \u2013 Arakan is another word for the Rakhine region. And in a video statement released August 28, Jununi \u2013 standing beside two masked militants with assault rifles \u2013 described the insurgents as the guardians and protectors of the oppressed Rohingya,\u201d claiming they were waging a defensive war with the brutal Burmese military regime.\u201d It\u2019s unclear how many fighters the group currently has.<\/p>\n

After the latest attacks, Myanmar\u2019s government has insisted they should only be referred to as extreme Bengali terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prospects for peace<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s unclear how much support the insurgents have among the Rohingya population, which numbers about 1 million in Myanmar. Neelakantan said there are reports that ARSA has executed suspected informants as part of a brutal effort to boost the insurgent group\u2019s influence and control.<\/p>\n

Given the deadly military sweep that followed their attacks last year, ARSA must have known an even greater backlash would come this time, Neelakantan said.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re clearly harming their cause more than they are helping it,\u201d she said. But if they wanted attention, they\u2019re going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The violence has already hardened both sides and deepened communal hatred. Mathieson said things will get worse before they get better. Once the killing starts, it\u2019s hard to put that back in the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.dhakatribune.com\/world\/2017\/08\/31\/look-insurgency-behind-myanmar-attacks\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Dhaka Trbune Analysts blame Myanmar’s government for the conditions that led to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)’s creation Armed with machetes and rifles, a ragtag band of insurgents comprised of members of Myanmar\u2019s Muslim Rohingya minority launched unprecedented attacks last week, triggering fighting with security forces that has left more than 100 people dead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}