Rohingya militants say they have ‘no links’ with global terror

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) says it is trying to defend the minority group from a long campaign of persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where the Rohingya are denied citizenship. 

But its actions have plunged a region, already a crucible of religious and ethnic tension, deeper into crisis. Around 380,000 Rohingya have sought sanctuary in Bangladesh since the outbreak of violence three weeks ago, fleeing burning villages and alleged army atrocities, joining what has become one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Nearly 30,000 Buddhists and Hindus have also been displaced inside Rakhine.

Rights group say Myanmar’s army has used the ARSA’s attacks as cover to try to push out the estimated 1.1 million Rohingya population. Myanmar’s government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has denied the allegations. It labels the militants as “extremist terrorists” who want to impose Islamic rule over a portion of Rakhine state. They have also previously described the group as harbouring fighters who have trained with the Pakistani Taliban, ideas that have become the currency of arguments among the mainly Buddhist public for why the crackdown is justified. 

Al-Qaeda on Tuesday urged Muslims around the world to support the Rohingya cause and “make the necessary preparations — training and the like — to resist this oppression” in a statement on Telegram. ARSA has repeatedly distanced itself from the agenda of international jihad, instead insisting its claims are local and in defence of major state repression.