South Asia Terrorism Portal
ARSA Menace Giriraj Bhattacharjee Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On June 22, 2022, unidentified assailants shot dead an Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) cadre, identified as Mohammad Shah, at the Modhurchora Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya Upazila (sub-district) of Cox's Bazar District.
On April 12, 2022, a group of nearly 40 to 45 ARSA cadres, under the leadership of Jubair, barged into Camp-2W in Ukhiya, and attacked two persons including the Head Majhi (leader) of Block-A10 (Camp-2W), under the suspicion that they were informers of the Armed Police Battalion. No casualty was reported.
On February 13, 2022, ARSA cadres killed Abul Kalam, a Majhi of Block-B/8, Rohingya refugee Camp–2 East, in Cox’s Bazar District.
On February 12, 2022, ARSA cadres injured Mohammad Amin, the head Majhi of Block-B/8, Rohingya refugee Camp–2 East, with sharp weapons after dragging him out of his shelter.
According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), at least six ARSA-linked incidents of violence have been reported in Bangladesh in the current year, thus far (data till July 3, 2022). At least three persons (one civilian and two militants) have been killed and another three (all civilians) injured in these incidents.
According to partial data compiled by the ICM, at least 13 ARSA-linked incidents of violence have been reported inside Bangladesh since March 2017, including the current year. At least 24 persons (10 civilians, and 14 militants) have been killed and another 31 (three civilians and 28 militants) injured in these incidents. Some of the other incidents included:
September 29, 2021: ARSA cadres killed Master Mohibullah, a prominent Rohingya leader and Chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, at his office at Kutupalong, Cox’s Bazar District. On June 13, 2022, Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam named 36 ARSA members in the killing of Mohibullah.
October 22, 2021: At least six Rohingya refugees were killed and eight were injured, when an armed group of ARSA cadres attacked the Darul Ulum Nadwatul Ulama Al-Islamia madrassa (seminary) inside a refugee camp in Ukhiya. Of the six deceased, two were madrassa students, two were teachers and two were madrassa volunteers. According to reports, those killed were followers of Master Mohibullah.
February 21, 2021: Suspected militants shot dead one Rohingya paramedic and injured a computer technician at the Muchuni camp in the Teknaf sub-district of Cox’s Bazar District.
Significantly, on October 12, 2016, Harakah al-Yaqin claimed responsibility for the October 9, 2016, attacks on Myanmar Security Forces (SFs) that left nine SF personnel dead in the Rakhine Province, Myanmar. Later, in March 2017, the outfit renamed itself ARSA.
ARSA is led by its ‘commander-in-chief’ name="_Hlk107678958">Abu Ammar Jununi aka Ataullah, who was born in Pakistan and raised in Saudi Arabia. Ataullah claimed that ARSA was fighting for the rights of the Rohingyas. In an interview on February 24, 2022, with Jamuna TV, a Bangladesh based channel, he declared that the group sought the repatriation of Rohingyas (including one million in Bangladesh) back to the Rakhine State in Myanmar. These Rohingyas left Myanmar in three phases – 1978, 1992 and 2017-18. Rohingyas are not recognized as Myanmar nationals. The 1982 citizenship law of Myanmar recognizes only those who trace their residence in the country to before 1823, or those belonging to the majority Burman, Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan ethnic groups, for full citizenship, and a list of 135 ethnic groups, compiled in 1982 also did not include the Rohingyas. Myanmar, instead, calls them ‘Bengali Muslims of Chittagong descent.’
In a February 24, 2022, interview, Ataullah claimed that ARSA had a cadre strength of 14,000 in Bangladesh and 2,000 in Myanmar. Since March 2017, ARSA-linked violence has resulted in 143 fatalities and injured 16 in Myanmar.
Hashim, a Rohingya with Pakistani links and stated to be ‘second-in-command’ of ARSA, who was reported to have been arrested on October 26, 2021, by the Rapid Action Battalion from Rohingya refugee Camp-11 of Balukhali-2, was found dead at Rohingya refugee Camp-22 in the evening of November 2, 2021. Unconfirmed reports suggest that, subsequent to his arrest, police might have released him and he was later lynched. Security agencies blamed factional rivalry and infighting among various Rohingya militant groups for his death.
ARSA’s activities in the Rohingya refugee camps are currently being managed by Nur Kalim and Abu Bakar, both residents of Camp-9.
ARSA has reportedly been receiving foreign funds through four banks located in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District – (i) Islami Bank, (ii) Al Arafa Islami Bank, (iii) Western Union, and (iv) Pubali Bank.
Moreover, according to a recent report Rohingya Camps Near the Border — a New Source of Insecurity? released on May 26, 2022, the Bangladesh police described ARSA as the ‘kingpins’ of the illegal trade across the Bangladesh–Myanmar border. The report added that, though ARSA was a Burmese terrorist organization, the group uses Bangladesh for their arms and Yaba trade, to raise revenues.
Bangladeshi authorities acknowledge the presence of 14 criminal gangs in Rohingya refugee camps. These groups are reported to be involved in crimes ranging from smuggling of Yaba and gold to abduction, extortion, and human trafficking. According to the Rohingya refugees, the majority of the armed gangs in the camps belong to ARSA.
According to reports, Voice of Rohingya, an ARSA sub-group, is active in the Rohingya refugee camps in the Ukhiya and Teknaf. It supervises the over-ground activities of ARSA in these camps. ARSA uses this sub-group for its propaganda and perception management activities.
Meanwhile, subsequent to the killing of Mohibullah, Bangladesh security agencies intensified their combing operations in the Rohingya camps where ARSA operates. One ARSA militant was killed and 117, including two top leaders, have been arrested, since. On March 5, 2022, Police arrested Moulvi Zakoria, the alleged chief of the ‘Ulema Council’, a council of powerful clerics tied to ARSA, from Lambasia camp. On January 16, 2022, Police arrested Mohammad Shah Ali, cousin of ARSA’s ‘commander-in-chief’ Ataullah, along with weapons and drugs.
Nevertheless, ARSA cadres, who had escaped to the ‘zero-line’ camp in late 2021 to evade operations, have been returning to their shelters in various camps. After their return, the cadres are on a vigorous look-out for informers of Bangladesh security agencies amongst the Rohingya refugees, on whose tip-offs several of the group’s cadres were arrested. They have resorted to violence to avenge these arrests. ARSA has been strengthening its cadre base inside the refugee camps and is maneuvering to launch operational activities in an attempt to establish dominance over the Rohingya refugees.
In a video released on April 24, 2022, to win Rohingyas support, Abu Anas aka Hafez Maulana Faiz-ul-Kabeer Arakani aka Iqbal Chowdhury, an ARSA leader, appealed to young Rohingya refugees to support the group’s struggle for the betterment of the Rohingya community. In his appeal, he pointed out that many insurgent groups of Myanmar were fighting against the Government to restore the rights of ethnic people, and were receiving support from their own people, while the ARSA was receiving no support from the Rohingya refugees. The video pointed out that just a few leaders who projected Rohingya problems at international fora and collect funds were praised by the Rohingya refugees, but ARSA cadres, who were fighting for the community from the jungles of Myanmar in in-human conditions, were being dubbed useless, with no meaningful engagement. The video claimed that, in coming times, what the ARSA could actually do would be demonstrated.
Ataullah also raised the issue of the financial crunch for the group, but dismissed all allegations of extortion from Rohingya refugee camps. He appealed to the Rohingya communities/members and sympathizers to donate funds, to help ARSA augment capabilities and capacities.
On March 14, 2022, ARSA held a meeting at the Kutupalaong Rohingya Camp-7 to chalk out its plan of action against anti-ARSA groups. The meeting was attended by around 100 ARSA members. In the meeting, ARSA reiterated that its leaders were committed to launch attacks under any circumstances and, if situation demanded, they would even confront the Bangladesh Security Forces, if the latter tried to intervene.
On the other hand, Rohingya militant groups, including the Islami Mahaj and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), among others, are working hard to challenge ARSA’s dominance in the camps. The Islami Mahaj conducted training and motivational lecture sessions in the name of providing an Arabic Grammar Course, Tadrib, in the Rohingya refugee camps during Ramadan. RSO recently recruited around 100 new cadres and was training them in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas.
In such a situation violence is likely to escalate.
Bangladesh needs to augment security in the Rohingya refugee camps. Moreover, unless repatriation of the Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar starts soon, their enduring stay is likely to provide ARSA and other Rohingya militant groups opportunities to expand their influence and activities.
Polio Peril Tushar Ranjan Mohanty Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On July 2, 2022, a polio worker was shot at and injured by unidentified assailants in Madakhel area of Mir Ali tehsil (revenue unit) in North Waziristan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On June 28, 2022, unidentified assailants shot dead two Policemen and one polio worker in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan District. The Policemen were assigned to polio vaccination teams in Datta Khel area. The team was administering polio vaccinations when they came under attack. A child was also shot in the leg during the incident.
On May 17, 2022, unidentified militants abducted a doctor, Zeeshan, affiliated with the anti-polio programme, from the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan District. Zeeshan was rescued on May 26. Bannu Division Commissioner Arshad Khan stated that the safe recovery was made possible due to the efforts of law enforcement agencies and tribal elders.
On March 2, 2022, unidentified assailants shot dead a polio worker, identified as Iqra Iqbal, when she was returning home after taking part in the anti-polio campaign on the outskirt of Peshawar, the provincial capital of KP.
On February 22, 2022, at least five Police personnel were injured in a remote-controlled blast near a Police van deployed for polio duty at Ibrahim Bridge on Maddi Road Gara in the Kulachi tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan District, KP.
On January 25, 2022, unidentified assailants shot dead a policeman who was providing security for polio vaccination workers in the Kohat District of KP.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least three Policemen and two Polio workers have been killed in such attacks in the current year (data till July 3, 2022).
The first polio immunisation-linked violent incident recorded by the SATP database, was reported on July 20, 2012, when unidentified terrorists shot dead Doctor Ishaq, associated with the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Polio Prevention Campaign, at Al-Asif Square in Junejo Town, Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. At least 127 persons (58 health workers and 69 Policemen) have been killed in such violence since then. Another 84 persons (54 health workers and 30 policemen) have been injured in such violence.
In 2012, at least 13 persons (all polio workers) were killed in such attacks. There were 18 [eight polio workers and 10 Security Force (SF) personnel] fatalities in 2013; 39 (12 polio workers and 27 SF personnel) in 2014; 12 (six polio workers and six SF personnel) in 2015; 13 (five polio workers and eight SF personnel) in 2016; none in 2017; six (five polio workers and one SF trooper) in 2018; eight (four polio workers and four SF personnel) in 2019; five (three polio workers and two SF personnel) in 2020; and eight (all SF personnel) in 2021.
Islamist terrorists violently oppose all forms of inoculation, and their resistance grew after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly organised a fake vaccination drive by Doctor Shakil Afridi, to track down Al-Qaeda's former chief Osama Bin Laden, who was killed at Abbottabad, KP, by US SEALs in the intervening night of May 1-2, 2011. Terrorists and extremists also spread negative propaganda against the vaccination campaigns, including the canard that the vaccination drops were part of a western plot to sterilise Muslims.
The polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan has not only suffered at the hands of terrorists but also due to socio-religious setbacks that resulted from Islamist Fatwas (religious edicts). The first such Fatwa came from cleric Maulvi Ibrahim Chisti in Muzaffargarh District of Punjab on June 12, 2012. Declaring the anti-polio campaign “un-Islamic,” Chisti had warned that a jihad (holy war) would be launched against polio vaccination teams.
Subsequent to Chisti’s ‘divine formulation,’ the then ‘commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s erstwhile North Waziristan Agency (NWA) ‘chapter,’ Hafiz Gul Bahadur, issued a Fatwa on June 18, 2012, denouncing vaccinations as an American ploy to sterilise the Muslim community and banned these in NWA until the CIA stopped its drone strikes in the region. Bahadur’s declaration was a reflection of the consensus reached by the various terrorist outfits that formed the Shura-e-Mujaheddin (Council of Islamic fighters).
Again, on July 31, 2019, TTP had warned people against polio vaccination. The one-page message in Urdu seen by people in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan District, cautioned the public not to allow administration of polio drops to children or to be ready to ‘face dire consequences’ for their defiance. There were two Polio campaigns immediately after the July threat, in August 2019 and December 2019. A three-day campaign was conducted on August 26-28, 2019, during which no one was killed. However, during the five-day campaign conducted on December 16-20, 2019, two Policemen deployed for the security of polio teams were killed by unidentified assailants in the Maidan area of Lower Dir city (Lower Dir District) of KP on December 18. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, all polio campaigns were suspended in the country thereafter.
After the COVID-19 crisis diminished, as soon as polio campaign was restarted, the attacks by the extremist resumed. During the August 2-6, 2021 campaign, three attacks on Polio workers and their security team were reported in which two policemen were killed and another policeman sustained injuries. Similarly, during December 10-13, 2021 campaign, three incidents of attack were reported in which two policemen were killed and another policeman sustained injuries.
Though the first Sub-National Immunisation Days (SNIDs) campaign of the current year (2022) on January 17 and January 24 was, by and large, peaceful, there was one incident of killing of a Policeman on January 25. The second SNIDs campaign – June 27 and July 3 – claimed three lives, including two policemen and one polio worker. The second SNIDs campaign of the year aims to vaccinate 12.6 million children in all four provinces. Under the campaign, covering 25 very high-risk districts for poliovirus, children under the age of five will be vaccinated. Further details of the campaign were not available at the time of writing.
This is despite the Government's claims of having provided fool proof security to the vaccination teams. Pakistan National Coordinator for the Polio programme, Brigadier Doctor Shahzad Baig reiterated, on June 20, 2022,
He did not, however, specify the period over which these deaths took place.
Pakistan's failed efforts to provide security for the vaccination teams continues to impede its Polio eradication programme. Eleven cases of polio have already been reported in the country in 2022, all from the North Waziristan District. Not surprisingly, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where armed Islamist extremists exercise widespread influence, are the only two countries remaining on the WHO's 'polio-endemic nations' list. WHO notes,
Extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan - substantially kept alive by the State and it's harnessing of Islamist extremist politics - has prevented the eradication of polio in the two countries, and puts the world at risk. It is abundantly clear that the Polio eradication in these two countries cannot succeed as long as the ideology of Islamist extremism and associated armed violence continue to dominate the political discourse.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia June 27 - July 3, 2022
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
NS
Total
AFGHANISTAN
INDIA
Assam
Jammu and Kashmir
INDIA (Left-Wing Extremism)
Chhattisgarh
India (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
KP
PAKISTAN (Total)
Total (South Asia)
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Army given go-ahead for TTP talks, says Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah: A parliamentary committee has authorised the Army leadership to hold talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on July 2. He said the Army leadership would inform the committee about any progress in the talks and the matter would then be debated in parliament. Dawn, July 4, 2022.
TTP refuses to budge from demand for FATA merger reversal: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, during an interview with a YouTuber on June 29, categorically stated that the outfit would not back down from its demand for the reversal of the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). "Our demands are clear and especially the reversal of Fata merger with KP is our primary demand which the group cannot back down from," said Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud. Dawn, June 30, 2022.
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The South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on related economic, political, and social issues, in the South Asian region.
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