A Pakistani man holds a pamphlet, allegedly distributed by the Islamic State (IS), on Sept. 3. The following day Al Qaeda announced a new South Asia front to “wage jihad” in neighboring India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Al Qaeda’s global influence has been eclipsed by the rival terror group. A Majeed AFP/Getty Images
BANGKOK, Thailand — Myanmar’s Rohingya people have been hacked to death, driven from their homes and quarantined in grubby camps. Many are shrunken from malnutrition and disease.
But while most see their condition as a tragedy, Al Qaeda sees opportunity.
From obscurity, the Rohingya plight has in recent years exploded into an international scandal. No country will claim them as their own. Though about 800,000 Rohingya inhabit the western shores of Myanmar, the Buddhist-led government there labels them foreign invaders from Bangladesh. Vigilantes have purged them from cities using arson and murder. Human Rights Watch calls this bloody exodus “ethnic cleansing.”
The Rohingya also happen to be Muslim.
Patrick Winn reports for GlobalPost on Al Qaeda’s efforts to expand into Myanmar.