Bangladesh arrests chief of Rohingya insurgent group

DHAKA: Bangladesh authorities have arrested the commander of a Rohingya Muslim insurgent group, Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, on charges of murder, illegal entry, sabotage and militant activities, police said on Wednesday.

Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, chief of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), and 10 others were arrested Tuesday in Narayanganj district near capital Dhaka. Jununi, a Pakistani-born Rohingya who grew up in Mecca, heads a group that has conducted attacks on officials in Myanmar as part of what it describes as "a defensive war with the brutal Burmese military regime" on behalf of the Rohingya, who face discrimination and violence in Myanmar. Intel says ARSA members have been involved in targeted killings, kidnappings, drugs, and other serious crimes in the Rohingya refugee camps. Infighting over control of the camps led to deaths of hundreds of Rohingya.