I ran across this longish article by Bertil Lintner in the Asia Times.
Anyone following Burma (Myanmar) for any length of time is familiar with Lintner, he has spent his lifetime traveling and writing primarily about the people, politics, and issues of Burma. Lintner’s reputation for insightful and truthful reporting has been earned over a lifetime.
All ethnic peoples fighting the central government in Burma have regular armies. The fact that the Rohingya have one too (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) ) is nothing unusual. What is unusual is how well developed the propaganda arm of the ARSA is and that many of it’s leaders have backgrounds in the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
With the current widespread burning, and likely widescale murder and rape of Rohingya civilians by government and Buddhist Burmese in this conflict it’s to be expected that the ARSA is gaining strength and support as well as recruits.