Prior to 2016 According to an ARSA spokesperson, the group was founded as Harakah al-Yaqin () in 2013, following the
2012 Rakhine State riots. A former member of ARSA described how he was recruited by the group's leader,
Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi, three years prior to the attacks in October 2016. Jununi had approached villagers, asking for five to ten recruits to join his group and telling them that the time had come to "stop the mistreatment of the Rohingya people". Prior to the October 2016 attacks, ARSA had merely patrolled villages armed with bamboo sticks, making sure that villagers prayed at mosques. According to Rohingya locals and Burmese security officials, the group had again began approaching Rohingya men from various villages for recruitment six months prior to its first attack in October 2016, this time with the intention of training them across the border in
Bangladesh for a future attack in Myanmar. The
Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) announced on 15 November 2016 that a total of 69 insurgents had been killed by security forces in the recent fighting. The ICG reported on 14 December 2016 that in interviews with ARSA, its leaders claimed to have links to private donors in
Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan. The ICG also released unconfirmed reports that Rohingya villagers had been "secretly trained" by Afghan and Pakistani fighters.
2017 Burmese state media reported on 22 June 2017 that three insurgents had been killed by security forces in a raid on an insurgent camp supposedly belonging to ARSA, as part of a two-day "area clearance operation" by the government. Authorities confiscated gunpowder, ski masks and wooden rifles used for training. In July 2017, the Burmese government accused ARSA of murdering 34 to 44 civilians and kidnapping 22 others in reprisal attacks against those ARSA have perceived as government collaborators. ARSA denied the accusations. On 25 August 2017, the group claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on at least two dozen police posts and an attempted raid on an army base. The government gave an official death toll of 77 Rohingya insurgents and 12 security forces in northern
Maungdaw following the attacks. The government stated that ARSA insurgents had attacked a police station in the
Maungdaw District with a handmade bomb alongside the coordinated attacks on several police posts. ARSA claimed they were taking "defensive actions" in 25 different locations and accused government soldiers of raping and killing civilians. The group also claimed that
Rathedaung had been under a blockade for more than two weeks, starving the Rohingya, and that government forces were preparing to do the same in Maungdaw. The Myanmar Army also blamed ARSA for the killings of 99
Bengali Hindus in the
Kha Maung Seik massacre, which occurred on the same day as the attacks. Over 4,000 ethnic
Rakhines fled their villages on 26 August 2017, as fighting between ARSA and the Tatmadaw escalated. In late August 2017, the Burmese government accused ARSA of killing 12 civilians, including Hindus and Muslims, some of whom were suspected by ARSA of being government informants. On 24 September 2017, Myanmar's military accused ARSA of killing 28 Hindus in Ye Baw Kya village in the previous month after they uncovered their bodies in a mass grave. ARSA released a statement on 28 August 2017, calling government allegations against it as "baseless" and stating that ARSA only seeks to defend Rohingyas and their rights. Bangladesh meanwhile has proposed joint military operations with Myanmar against ARSA. A one-month unilateral ceasefire was declared by ARSA on 9 September 2017, in an attempt to allow aid groups and humanitarian workers safe access into northern Rakhine State. In a statement, the group urged the government to lay down their arms and agree to their ceasefire, which would have been in effect from 10 September until 9 October (the one-year anniversary of the first attacks on Burmese security forces by ARSA). The government rejected the ceasefire, with Zaw Htay, the spokesperson for the State Counsellor's office, stating, "We have no policy to negotiate with terrorists." ARSA responded on 7 October 2017 that they would respond to any peace initiatives proposed by Myanmar's government, but added that their one-month unilateral ceasefire was about to end. Despite the ceasefire ending on 9 October, the government stated that there were no signs of any new attacks. On 9 November 2017, Myint Khyine, the Burmese secretary of the Immigration and Population Department, blamed the deaths of 18 village leaders in the last three months on ARSA in Muslim-majority Maungdaw and Buthidaung. The victims were village leaders who helped the Immigration and Population Department issue national verification cards to Rohingya residents. Bangladesh's Minister of Road Transport and Bridges(Contemporary),
Obaidul Quader, stated during a reception organised by the nation's deputy high commission in
Kolkata, India that his country was investigating the allegations. In November 2017, it was reported that members of the Rohingya diaspora in Malaysia were providing financial support to ARSA.
2018 ARSA claimed responsibility for an ambush carried out on 5 January 2018 in the village of Turaing, which reportedly injured six members of Myanmar's security forces and a civilian driver. In late November 2018,
Hindu community leaders in Myanmar claimed that ARSA had been warning Hindu refugees in Bangladesh not to return to Rakhine State after Burmese authorities called for their
repatriation.
2019 On 16 January, Myanmar state media reported that six police officers had been injured in an ambush by ten ARSA insurgents in Watkyein village bridge in Maungdaw. In March, ARSA's leadership called for their followers to protect Rohingya community from insurgent group in refugee camps in Bangladesh. This was statement was made in response to reports of killings and abductions in the refugee camps. Bangladeshi media blamed ARSA for the crimes, while ARSA denies any responsibility.
2020 Reports circulated in May 2020 that ARSA had reformed in Maungdaw after several months of inactivity. On 2 May, the
Myawady Daily reported that two Burmese police officers had been attacked by 41 ARSA insurgents near the
Bangladesh–Myanmar border. Two alleged ARSA insurgents died in a confrontation with Myanmar security forces at the Bangladeshi border on 4 June. According to military spokesman and Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, the clash occurred during routine border security at Mee Dike village and began when around 30 ARSA insurgents opened fire. Three civilians were killed and six others were wounded when their vehicle struck an alleged ARSA mine in Maungdaw Township on 17 November.
2021 Rohingya leader Mohammed Mohib Ullah, who had raised the issue of human rights violations of Rohingyas and was an opponent of ARSA, was
killed on 29 September 2021. His brother accused the group of being behind the attack, but the group denied it. The
Bangladesh Police said in March 2022 that the group was behind it and assassinated him due to his growing popularity. Some Rohingyas told
Reuters that ARSA and other armed gangs enforced their rules at night in refugee camps, abducting their critics and instructing women to abide by conservative Islamic norms. Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, stated on 19 December that he had received credible reports of ARSA killing, torturing, abducting and intimidating Rohingya refugees in camps. Bangladesh's Foreign Minister
AK Abdul Momen however denied the group's presence in the camps. The group started reemerging in the Maungdaw region around November 2021, after allying with the
National Unity Government formed in opposition to the
military junta that took power after the
2021 Myanmar coup d'état. Clashes broke out between ARSA and the Tatmadaw in November. On 7 December, 23 residents of Khone Taing village were shot at by ARSA, injuring one.
2022 Several images and videos appeared on social media in early-January 2022, purportedly showing more than 50 members of the group along with its leaders taking part in a military drill in Maungdaw. Bangladeshi officials accused ARSA of being responsible for the killing of an intelligence officer and a Rohingya woman on 14 November during a counter-narcotics operations near the border with Myanmar. The group denied any responsibility.
2023 ARSA and the
Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) on 18 January 2023
clashed in a refugee camp, located near the
Naikhongchhari Upazila in the
no man's land of the Bangladesh–Myanmar border. One RSO member was killed and hundreds of refugees fled due to the fighting. The
Armed Police Battalion arrested six ARSA members on 5 May, including ARSA commander Hafizur Rahman. ARSA commander Hafiz Jubayer was arrested by the police on 10 May. On 12 June, Sabbir Ahmed, an ARSA leader was accused of being involved in the killings of six Rohingyas in October 2021. ARSA was accused of killing
Kutupalong refugee camp deputy leader Mohammad Ebadullah on 6 July. Five ARSA members were killed in clashes with RSO in
Cox's Bazar the following day, while the group was accused of murdering an RSO member. ARSA and the
Arakan Army (AA) clashed on 19 July in the Mayu mountains near Sein Hnyin Pyar and
Gu Dar Pyin villages. The AA claimed that five ARSA members and one AA member were killed, with the AA seizing an ARSA outpost. ARSA commander Hafez Nur Mohammad was captured by the
Rapid Action Battalion on 21 July in Cox's Bazar. ARSA commander Rahimullah Prakash Musa was arrested on 26 September, while Ataullah's personal secretary Mohammad Ershad Noman Chowdhury was arrested from the Kutupalong refugee camp on 2 October.
2024 ARSA began cooperating with the Tatmadaw in 2024. It was also accused of killing two civilians in Taung Pyo Let Wae town of
Maungdaw Township on 7 March. Local residents then urged the Arakan Army to start "clearance operations" against ARSA. On 12 April, clashes broke out between the Arakan Army and the junta-supported fighters of ARSA in
Buthidaung Township, resulting in deaths of at least 25 Rohingya civilians and 3,000 Rohingyas fleeing. ARSA was also accused of burning down homes and kidnapping civilians in Buthidaung Township. Four ARSA members were arrested by the 8th Armed Police Battalion in Ukhia on 23 February. Two militants, including a top coordinator and commander of the group, were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion on 15 May. Four members were arrested by the 14th Armed Police Battalion in a refugee camp in Ukhia on 19 May, and an ARSA commander was arrested by it in a refugee camp in Ukhia on 22 May. On 10 June, five ARSA members including Moulovi Akij, a top ARSA commander wanted for the murder of
Mohib Ullah, were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion in Ukhiya. On 13 June, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Zakaria, a gun group commander in ARSA, with arms in Ukhiya. An ARSA commander named Nurul Islam was arrested in Ukhiya with arms and ammunition by the Armed Police Battalion on 19 September.
2025 On 18 March 2025, the
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of Bangladesh arrested six individuals linked to ARSA, including the group's leader
Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi. They were apprehended in Narayanganj, where RAB seized around 21.39 lakh taka (USD $17,608) in cash. 51.39 lakh taka,
Malaysian ringgit, and US dollars were also seized at other properties. The Development Media Group stated that 40 Rakhine civilians had been killed and 17 injured in ARSA attacks from May 2025 to 23 October 2025. By late-November 2025, fighting between the Arakan Army and the Rohingya militant groups ARSA and RSO was reported to have intensified.
2026 On 11 January, 53 ARSA members were detained by
Border Guard Bangladesh for trespassing into Bangladeshi territory. Before that, two people were injured by gunfire. ARSA commander Zahid Hossain Prakash Lalu was arrested in Ukhia by Bangladesh's security forces for carrying out militant activities on 4 February. On 30 April, the Detective Branch of police arrested five ARSA in Dhaka with explosives, firearms and few other equipments. == Ideology and structure ==