Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi

The International Crisis Group (ICG) released a report in December 2016 stating that Jununi had close links with Saudi Arabia.^[7] The ICG report states that Jununi left Saudi Arabia in 2012, shortly after religiously motivated violence erupted in Rakhine State. A Myanmar government press release claimed that Jununi spent six months training in modern guerrilla warfare under the Taliban in Pakistan. The report stated that there are indications he went to Pakistan, and possibly elsewhere, to receive training in guerrilla warfare. Several members of the group also stated to the ICG that he may have received additional training in Libya before his return to Rakhine State.^[3]

On 9 October 2016, Jununi led hundreds of ARSA insurgents to the Bangladesh–Myanmar border, where they attacked Burmese border police posts.^[8] A week later, Jununi appeared in a video online, claiming responsibility for the attacks.^[3][4] Jununi led a second large-scale attack on 25 August 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 71 people.^[9][10][11] ARSA was blamed for the Kha Maung Seik massacre of 99 Bengali Hindus that occurred on the same day, a charge Jununi denied.^[12]

Jununi's half-brother, Muhammad Shah Ali, a member of ARSA, was arrested by the Armed Police Battalion on 16 January 2022 in a camp near Cox's Bazar while carrying arms and drugs.^[13] After his half-brother was arrested, Jununi was interviewed by Bangladeshi news channel, Jamuna TV in February 2022.^[14]

In June 2022, Bangladesh Police accused Jununi of ordering the murder of Mohib Ullah because Jununi feared that Ullah and his organization, the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, would impede ARSA's operations. The police also accused Jununi of demanding Ullah shutdown his organization and join ARSA, which Ullah refused.^[15]

On 18 March 2025, Jununi was arrested by Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion in Narayanganj.^[16][17][18]