The recent arrest of Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, the kingpin of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), by Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) marks a significant moment in the ongoing crisis surrounding the Rohingya. Captured alongside ten other ARSA members in Narayanganj, near Dhaka, Ataullah’s detention has raised critical questions about the future of Rohingya militancy, the evolving dynamics in Rakhine State, and the broader security implications for the region.

Ataullah emerged as a central figure in the Rohingya resistance movement in 2016-2017, when ARSA carried out attacks on Myanmar’s security forces. Presenting the group as a defender of the persecuted Rohingya, he gained significant traction among disenfranchised youth seeking protection. However, ARSA’s actions, often marked by poorly executed militant strikes, failed to achieve any strategic gains and instead exacerbated the Rohingya crisis.

While ARSA claimed to be a resistance movement, its lack of sophisticated weaponry and strategic capabilities rendered it largely ineffective. Its attacks on Myanmar border posts in 2016 and 2017 served as a pretext for the Myanmar military’s brutal crackdown, which resulted in the displacement of over 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh. Despite claims that it was fighting for Rohingya rights, ARSA’s activities contributed to the justification of a military-led campaign widely recognized as ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Bangladeshi law enforcement authorities have long been monitoring ARSA’s growing influence in the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, where the group was linked to extortion, targeted........

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