On the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARFA)

Any suggestions that alleged actions of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) are responsible for the military onslaught against Rohingya are to be rejected with contempt. Unconfirmed charges are circulating that ARSA militants attacked Myanmar security forces with knives, guns & homemade explosives. Maybe they did; maybe they didn’t. Since the source of the charges are the Myanmar government, there isn’t an ounce of credibility to the claims.

According to some reports, ARSA has been active in Arakan state since the genocidal military onslaught in 2012; according to other reports, they were behind the October 9, 2016 attack on border patrol that unleashed the military onslaught that lasted for several months. The Rohingya people have the right to defend themselves by any means necessary but there’s something about ARSA that doesn’t quite add up. It’s origins, existence, & alleged actions have proven an advantage to the regime in justifying genocide. It’s not certain what their politics are or if they do more than issue occasional videos on YouTube. Even if they turn out to be behind the attacks on security forces in Arakan state, they are not responsible for the genocidal onslaught on Rohingya villagers.