The United League of Arakan has cautioned Bangladesh’s interim regime, saying that it must take steps to “curb the military activities” of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), failing which the security situation in “Bangladesh, the border and the ASEAN region” could become unstable.
In a press statement issued on October 11, the United League of Arakan (ULA), the Arakan Army’s political front, provided details of an October 11 incursion into the Rakhine State by armed ARSA and RSO fighters who “ambushed” three motorcyclists around 3 pm before killing one of them near Leik Ya junction in Maungdaw region.
The other two motorcyclists were grievously injured in the firing.
Even as the Arakan Army and the ULA have repeatedly accused the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) troops for providing assistance to the ARSA and RSO insurgents, the Rakhine State-based outfit claimed in the press statement that “weapons, ammunition and military equipment” seized from the two Rohingya groups “indicate that these materials are likely being supplied or sold for profit by corrupt officials” of the Myanmar military junta.
The ULA went to the extent of levelling serious charges of “coordination” between the ARSA and RSO on the one hand and the military junta on the other, “possibly as part of a mutual agreement”.
Besides, “support from corrupt BGB officers and certain military personnel suggests the possibility of a tripartite coordinated attack”.
Neither the BGB nor the Bangladesh Army and nor even Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman has denied the Arakan Army’s or the ULA’s charges.
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Pointing out that BGB officers extend assistance to the ARSA and RSO “extremists” by “transporting injured and deceased ARSA members from conflict zones”, the ULA said that medical treatment, food and weapons supplies, leadership, security, aerial reconnaissance and “military intelligence through radar systems” are provided by the BGB.
These actions, the ULA said, “amount to indirect participation in combat alongside ARSA and RSO terrorists groups”.
Reminding the Bangladesh interim regime that it had “urged” to take steps to “promptly identify and take action” against the BGB officers and “individuals” who support the ARSA, the ULA emphasised the need to prevent issues from escalating between the two sides and to maintain stability in a constructive manner”.
