Arakan Army: Myanmar’s New Front of Conflict Synopsis

According to the Tatmadaw, the rockets were reportedly fired from the shore, and was the first attack on a navy vessel in the coastal state. [...] The AA has a Rakhine nationalist agenda that includes self-determination, safe- guarding Rakhine Buddhist identity and cultural heritage and the development of the state, one of the country’s poorest. [...] Commemorating the anniversary of the fall of the Arakan Kingdom has become a new way of expressing Rakhine nationalism. [...] Sources close to the Myanmar government believe that the AA wants to establish a sizeable force in the Rakhine State to emulate the autonomy that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) enjoys in Wa areas near the Myanmar-China border. [...] While Singapore’s deportation of the Myanmar citizens with links to the AA is a decisive action for the security of the city-state, Myanmar needs to find a way to engage the Rakhine population on its concerns, beyond quelling the insurgency.