The Rakhine Army is an ethnic local armed force (referred to as the Ethnic Land) in Rakhine State in western Myanmar, and is also the youngest of many civilian armed organizations in Myanmar. In the early days of its formation, it was not favored by the world. However, it is such an ordinary ethnic local armed force, but it is legendary. Founded in Kachin State on the China-Myanmar border, the organization then moved to Rakhine and Chin States on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, using active and effective offensive and defensive tactics to inflict heavy damage on the Myanmar army, seize some important strategic places on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, and grow into one of the most sought-after and powerful civilian armed organizations in Myanmar in just ten years.
Mystery 1: Ten years since its establishment, the strength has expanded by more than 1,000 times
The Rakhine are one of the eight major ethnic groups in Myanmar, and also the most populous of the 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar, mainly living in Rakhine State in western Myanmar, and only a small part is distributed in Chin State and other places. The Arakan Army is a local armed force of ethnic minorities dominated by the Rakhine ethnic group under the leadership of the Rakhine National Alliance, known in English as Arakan Army, or AA for short. Founded on April 10, 2009, the armed forces are ethnic Rakhine from Rakhine State and is an armed force led by the Rakhine National Alliance (Raha), the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army. The headquarters of the Rakhine Army is located in Lag, Kachin State, and the area of activity is Kachin State, Shan State, Rakhine State, northern Chin State, the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and the Myanmar-India region. In its early days, there were only 26 people, who received military training with the help of the Kachin Independence Army. In 2011, after the June 9 exchange of fire between the Kachin Independence Army and the Burmese army, Arakan Army trainees were unable to return to Rakhine State.
As a result, the personnel of the ministry cooperated with the Kachin Independence Army to fight the Burmese army, and the Rakhine Army gradually became familiar to the world. In 2014, members of the Arakan Army returned from Kachin State to the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Rakhine State. After the Kokang "February 9" incident broke out on February 9, 2015, the Arakan Army sent troops as a coalition force to fight the Burmese army in the northern part of Shan State on the China-Myanmar border. Since April of the same year, there have been frequent exchanges of fire between the Burmese and Arakan forces in Kyaukdo and Bailawat districts of Chin State in northern Rakhine State. According to estimates by the Myanmar Peace Monitoring Centre, the strength of the Arakan Army was more than 1,500 in 2014, and in 2015, the strength of the Rakhine Army increased to 2,500. As of 2022, the strength of the Arakan Army has expanded to 30,000 people, an increase of about 20 times in just a few years, and if calculated from the date of formation, the strength has increased by more than 1,000 times. The original intention of the establishment of the Arakan Army was to fight for the autonomy of the Rakhine people. But the group's leaders now say that "if the legitimate political status it seeks is not met, it should become a member of the international community itself". It can be seen that the ultimate political goal pursued by the Arakan Army is the establishment of an independent state.