Enemies of Convenience: The Arakan Army’s Narrative War Against the Rohingya

Enemies of Convenience: The Arakan Army’s Narrative War Against the Rohingya

In late September 2025, the front page of an Arakan Princess Media bulletin showed a grainy photograph of captured rifles laid out on the ground. The headline declared: “Muslim Armed Group ARSA Defeated in Maungdaw.” The language was blunt, the imagery designed to alarm. For readers across Rakhine State, the message was unmistakable: the Arakan Army (AA) was protecting them from an existential threat, and the threat’s name was the Rohingya—thoug…