American Researcher Says Rohingya Militancy Has Fueled Rakhine Conflict Since WWII, Alleges Foreign Links in 2017 Attacks
A U.S. researcher with decades of experience studying Myanmar has claimed that armed Rohingya movements have played a central role in driving violence in Rakhine State for more than 80 years, with the August 2017 attacks representing the most significant escalation in the conflict.
Richard Heisman, an American national who says he has traveled to Myanmar since the early 1980s and to Rakhine State since the mid-1990s, told reporters that tensions between Rakhine Buddhists and Bengali Muslim Rohingya did not emerge recently but can be traced back to World War II.
According to Heisman, the conflict reached a turning point on August 25, 2017, when fighters linked to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) launched coordinated attacks across northern Rakhine State. He said police posts, military facilities, and villages in multiple townships were targeted simultaneously.
Heisman described the operation as unprecedented, claiming that dozens of security outposts and more than 80 villages were attacked within hours, with further assaults reported the following day. He alleged that a large number of participants took part in the attacks, most armed with knives, machetes, and improvised weapons, while a smaller number carried firearms.
“These were simultaneous surprise attacks carried out across a vast area,” Heisman said, describing them as among the largest coordinated militant actions seen in the region.
Heisman further alleged that ARSA leadership had contact with foreign actors in the days leading up to the 2017 attacks. He claimed that communications linked to ARSA leader Ataullah indicated calls from individuals he identified as a Pakistani military figure and an ISIS-linked commander based in Syria.
According to Heisman, the alleged callers encouraged the immediate launch of the attacks, resulting in a change to the original timetable and a reduced number of targets. He argued that this suggested ARSA was influenced by external militant networks rather than acting solely as a local force. No independently verified evidence of such communications has been made public, and foreign governments and extremist groups have previously denied direct involvement in Rohingya militancy.
Heisman asserted that the attacks reflected an intention to drive non-Muslim communities out of northern Rakhine State, including Rakhine Buddhists, Hindus, and indigenous groups such as the Mro, Thet, and Khami. He claimed that militant objectives included the establishment of an autonomous Islamic-administered territory.
He rejected international allegations that Myanmar’s military committed genocide against the Rohingya population, arguing instead that the Tatmadaw’s actions constituted counterinsurgency operations. He said that if extermination had been the intent, the outcome would have been fundamentally different.
Tracing the roots of the conflict further back, Heisman pointed to communal violence during the Japanese invasion in 1942, when large-scale killings and displacement occurred in Maungdaw and Buthidaung areas. He cited British-era records warning of severe demographic changes in the region following those events.
He also claimed that armed Muslim insurgent activity continued intermittently after independence, resurfacing in later decades and intensifying again in 2012, 2016, and 2017.
Heisman said he personally visited several locations where allegations of mass killings were made after the 2017 military operations, including Tula Toli, Gu Dar Pyin, Maung Nu, and Inn Din. He claimed interviews conducted in surrounding areas did not support some of the reported accounts.
However, he acknowledged the killing of approximately 100 Hindu villagers in Kha Maung Seik, where mass graves were later discovered and survivors stated that Rohingya militants were responsible.
Heisman also said he reviewed hundreds of videos he claimed were produced by ARSA-linked militants, including material allegedly recovered from seized mobile phones and computers. He asserted that the footage showed training activities, weapons instruction, and militant camps, some purportedly filmed outside Myanmar.
He emphasized a distinction between Rohingya militant groups and other Muslim communities in Myanmar, such as the Kaman and Panthay, whom he described as long-established citizens who have largely lived peacefully in the country. He also pointed to archaeological remains across Rakhine State as evidence of a historically Buddhist civilization, while acknowledging the long-standing presence of Muslim communities.
The situation in Rakhine State remains deeply contested, with sharply differing narratives advanced by international organizations, the Myanmar military, Rohingya groups, and independent researchers. Heisman said his conclusions are based on years of fieldwork and interviews with multiple communities, including elderly witnesses to wartime violence. Human rights organizations and international bodies continue to dispute such claims and maintain investigations into alleged abuses linked to the 2017 military operations.
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