Since June 6, 2025, United League of Arakan/ Arakan Army (ULA/AA) leader General Tun Myat Naing, also known as Twan Mrat Naing, is back in Rakhine or Arakan State, according to him in his recent interview with The Irrawaddy aired on September 20.

AA Commander-in-Chief General Tun Myat Naing said that the special forces had to be trained for years and prepared in advance to return to back to their homeland, Rakhine. He said in an interview with The Irrawaddy: “Returning to Rakhine, my homeland, is a very big turning point in our revolutionary journey that I have been thinking about since day one when I left Rakhine. We made a lot of preparations before this trip. I mean, we trained the special forces for years. (Like) where and how (to act according to the needed situation), and so on. Because our Rakhine revolutionary leaders from the 1970s have failed on this (kind of return) journey, where we have to sacrifice a lot. That is why we have prepared a great deal,” said General Tun Myat Naing.

His first experience after so many years of absence from his homeland was said to be the breathing of fresh ocean breeze that delighted him and his team. No doubt, a natural sense and enjoyable nostalgia moment of homecoming were experienced, which many can identify with, one would say.

“We really came (back) here successfully. When we set foot in our homeland, Rakhine, it was a real rainy season on June 6. It was a real memorable (episode). When we set foot in our homeland, beginning with the soft breeze from the ocean. It is really special for us. And this period is the most difficult period for the Rakhine people. In terms of battles, we are fighting very fierce battles. So, after standing together with the people in difficulties, we will be the same as before together with our comrades. But after standing on this same ground, under the same sky, we will struggle (to overcome) these most difficult situations. The feeling of fighting together will also give strength to the people. For our comrades it is also (going to be) our very valuable historical step,” Tun Myat Naing said.

During his exclusive first interview, he mentioned issues that have to be tackled are: achieving racial harmony; fighting the Muslim fundamentalist such as Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) along Rakhine-Bangladesh border; and repatriation of the Rohingya back to Rakhine; as his organization’s most daunting challenges.

Racial harmony with the Rohingya and repatriation challenges

With the dwindling international fund, Bangladesh is in a hurry to push the burden of Rohingya refugees back to Rakhine State back as soon as possible, according to Tun Myat Naing in his recent interview with The Irrawaddy.

At the same time, Rakhine population as a whole is also in a dire hardship and on the brink of dwindling food security because of the yearlong blockage and sanctions from Covid lock-down up to the present ongoing civil war, with all kinds of man-made disasters primarily caused by the military junta.

While AA is doing everything to foster racial harmony, applying integration into its administrative apparatus, coupled with religious freedom of the Rohingya Muslims, reparations them immediately may not be possible, due to ongoing war, lack of facilities, funds and above all, a lack of social contract or political understanding agreement which are first needed in order to resettle the returnee refugees, according to Tun Myat Niang.

Regarding the Muslim issue, General Tun Myat Naing also said that currently it is a wartime period and the entire country of Myanmar, including the Rakhine people, is facing many crises, so the repatriation of Muslims is not a priority.

The ULA/AA’s stance on Muslims is that policy implementation will continue based on their loyalty to Myanmar, Rakhine State, and respect for the law, and the unity-building and solidarity under the motto of “action rather than words.”

AA Commander-in-Chief General Tun Myat Naing visited Maungdaw Township on August 30 and met with Muslim religious leaders and the Muslim community. During the meeting, General Tun Myat Naing reopened the Jameh Mosque in Maungdaw in response to Muslims’ request which clearly is the religious right of Muslims, Tun Myat Naing elaborated.

Moreover, important points to ponder was that non-Muslim are also affected tremendously by genocide as the population decrease from 10% of the whole Rakhine State population to just 4% recently, according to Tun Myat Naing. The non-Muslims are such as Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and animist of various ethnicity.

According to International Crisis Group’s June 2025 report, building trust among the three sides – the Arakan Army, the Rohingya and Bangladesh – will be crucial to averting a drift into further conflict.

Fighting the ARSA and RSO

General Tun Myat Naing said that some senior officers in the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been recruiting Muslim armed groups like ARSA and RSO to fight in Rakhine State. In the interview with The Irrawaddy he said they were attacking the AA positions and the fighting were in progress.

The ULA/AA announced on September 19 that it will enhance security in Arakan State to prevent and combat the lawlessness and terrorist activities of the Islamic extremist ARSA and RSO militants, according to the Public Voice Television.

The ULA/AA announced that it is responsible for public services and public security in the occupied areas, and that it is also fighting daily counterattacks by the military junta in the Arakan State.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Arakan State cannot fully provide public security along the long Arakan-Bangladesh border and in some parts of Maungdaw district, the Islamic extremist ARSA and RSO militants have launched a series of attacks against the AA.

RSO militants have established themselves in Bangladesh and are infiltrating Maungdaw district of Arakan region through the Naf River and Mayu Mountain routes. The Islamic extremist groups that have infiltrated Maungdaw District through the border have been ambushing, kidnapping, and killing local people who are searching for food, cutting firewood, and shopping in remote areas of the forest and mountains.

The Islamic extremist groups are reportedly creating fake battles with the Arakan Army to create propaganda to gain more support for them.

In addition, in the forest and mountains, in remote areas, they are abducting and killing Arakan local people, and changing into Arakan Army uniforms to create the appearance of capturing (AA) soldiers during the battle, and using false images on social media pages.

The statement said that they are trying to get more support and encouragement from the Islamic extremist groups that support them. These terrorist activities by the Islamic extremist ARSA and RSO militants are threatening the lives and property of the innocent Arakanese people living in the Arakanese-Bangladesh border area, so it is a time to be vigilant in terms of security.

The Arakanese people living in the border area are advised to avoid traveling alone or in small groups when traveling in the deserted areas in the mountains and forests, and if there are health issues or important matters that must travel, they should report to the nearest administrative and security forces of the Arakanese People’s Revolutionary Government before traveling.

Drugs-trafficking accusation on AA

According to Development Media Group’s 17 September report, AA has been accused of drug trafficking by the Deputy Director of Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB), Cox’s Bazar, claiming that some Bangladeshi citizens were purchasing drugs from the AA and smuggling them into Bangladesh.

Responding to this, U Khaing Thukha said: “BGB’s allegation that Bangladeshi citizens are obtaining drugs from AA-controlled territory is completely false. This is an unfounded and one-sided accusation. Since we took control of the border areas, drug trafficking has completely ceased.”

U Khaing Thukha responded: “Right now, no cross-border movement is possible. Under such circumstances, the allegation that Bangladeshi citizens are collecting drugs from AA-controlled areas is entirely unreasonable.”

He added that drugs currently seized in Bangladesh were in fact being trafficked from Yangon and Sittwe-areas under Myanmar military control-in collaboration with the junta and some Muslim groups, using maritime routes to Saint Martin’s Island.

According to U Khaing Thukha, some officers in the BGB and Bangladesh Coast Guard who profit from the drug trade are trying to cover up their involvement by deflecting blame onto others.

A local resident said: “Lately, we have seen many drug-related accusations directed at the AA. The junta also makes such allegations. The junta does this to discredit the AA politically. Whatever the case, the AA must handle these accusations carefully.”

AA sources said that BGB has been providing training and weapons to religious extremists in refugee camps, stationing them around BGB outposts, and backing them in committing crimes such as killings, abductions, robberies, human trafficking, and drug smuggling for profit.

Analysis

While Tun Myat Naing’s homecoming is being welcomed and rejoiced by many, especially the Arakan patriots, the burden heaped on his shoulder is extremely heavy.

Regarding racial harmony it is a tremendous challenge given the racial hatred that has infested the two communities all these decades, which Tun Myat Naing himself has admitted during his latest interview with The Irrawaddy.

But nevertheless, there is now hope that the two communities are building bridges of understanding and fostering harmony to be able to imply peaceful co-existence, according to Tun Myat Naing.

The overtures of ULA/AA integrating some 5,000 Muslim individuals into its administrative apparatus and allowing religious freedom are indications that living together in a multi-ethnic society is possible. And according to Tun Myat Naing going deeper into Rakhine inland away from the Bangladesh border the racial harmony has already been taking roots like never before and daily social intercourse are improving at an accelerating pace.

However, he said the diaspora interest groups which actually dictate the Rohingya movement are not interested in multi-ethnic peaceful co-existence solution, but rather the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) type solution of humanitarian intervention, by giving pressure using armed struggle as a means to Rohingya aspirations. Thus, human rights over was used to defame the ULA/AA which are exemplified by news agency such as Al Jezeera, Tun Myat Naing said.

He even said that his organization is being attacked from all fronts, like using human rights violations forums, with false, exaggerated narratives, leading to the onslaught from international human rights norms point of view unfairly, on which his organization is quite powerless to confront. He even coined it as “lawfare” similar to the usage of “warfare”, in his recent interview.

In warfare facet he clearly is overwhelmed with having to confront the Burmese military junta in Rakhine and its neighboring divisions like Bago, Ayeyawaddy and Magwe, in addition to fighting in Kachin and Shan states, beside the ARSA and RSO backed by the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB).

And as if it is not enough, AA has to fulfill its pushing out all of the military junta’s troops from Rakhine State which isn’t easy and has to painstakingly go about it, especially in Kyaukphu and Sittwe. The Kyaukphyu Sino-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipeline Project and Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) are manned by Chinese special security troops, with approval of the Burmese military junta, which makes the AA capturing them very delicate and problematic.

We will have to see how the AA will handle and go about with this difficult undertaking, which is not to cause friction with the Chinese security forces and trigger head-on confrontation, while trying to figure out on how this war of attrition can be won without ruffling the Chinese feathers. Not an easy task, by the way it looks.

On top of that, Tun Myat Naing is being looked up at as a prime mover in the process of reshaping the foreign policy of the whole anti-junta resistance forces, where relationship between China, Bangladesh and India are concerned. As such, a recent opinion piece in Myanmar Now published on September 22 writes: “During the nearly 5 years of military rule, Tun Myat Naing has proven his military leadership skills. He is not just a political leader like Aung San Suu Kyi, but now leads a powerful armed force, has the potential to become a political leader who can be recognized and accepted by all ethnic groups in the future leadership of Myanmar, not only by the Rakhine people but also by all ethnic groups. However, to reach the status of a national leader who is supported by the entire country and the people, it is not enough to have a powerful army and a wide range of skills, but it is also very important to prove that he possesses a “great heart”. Tun Myat Naing, who has (now) become a new generation leader, will (have to) choose whether to be a leader of the Rakhine people alone or a national leader who is trusted by all ethnic groups, including the majority Burmese.”

As such, Tun Myat Naing’s homecoming isn’t just an ordinary one because of high hopes placed on him to lead the countrywide people’s revolution to fruition whether he anticipates it or not.