ARSA Terrorists Release A Kidnapped 13-Year-Old Maungdaw Local Muslim Youth After Ransom Payment

News February 28, 2026

ARSA Terrorist Leader and Recently Released Youth (photocredit)

A 13-year-old Muslim youth from Maungdaw Township who had been kidnapped and held for ransom by the Islamist extremist terrorist group ARSA since January 12 was released on February 23, according to sources.

The person abducted is Yasel Arafat (13 years old), son of Abdullah, from Mee Kyaung Tet village in Maungdaw Township. Yasel Arafat was kidnapped by the terrorist group ARSA at around 1 a.m. on the night of January 12 while trading goods in Mee Kyaung Tet village.

Afterward, the terrorist group ARSA contacted the family demanding a ransom of 15 lakhs of taka (approximately 48 million Myanmar kyat) and threatened to kill Yasel Arafat if the payment was not made, according to his mother Arfa (38 years old).

“When my son went missing, the next day they called. They said they had taken my son and demanded 15 lakhs of taka to release him. They were asking for 15 lakhs of taka as ransom. That amount was far too much for us; we simply couldn’t afford it.

My son was also begging them, saying that if they released him, his father would try to find the money somehow. He was crying while saying this, and it broke my heart terribly,” she said.

When the family said they could not pay the 15 lakhs of taka, the group lowered the demand to 10 lakhs the second time, 7 lakhs the third time, 4 lakhs the fourth time—all of which were refused. Finally, they said they would release him if 2 lakhs were paid.

After the family transferred the 2 lakhs of taka demanded by ARSA on February 19, Yasel Arafat was released on February 23 at around 2 a.m., according to his mother Arfa.

“I transferred the 2 lakhs of taka. But they didn’t release him immediately. After 4 or 5 days, they called again saying, ‘We’ve released your son; go pick him up near Kyauk Hlay Kar.’

I was overjoyed and rushed there right away. I can’t even describe how happy I was to see my son again. I only have this one child,” said Arfa.

To secure her son’s release, Arfa struggled greatly to gather and transfer the approximately 2 lakhs of taka. After his release, Yasel Arafat was found to be extremely emaciated and in very poor health due to starvation and torture in the forest, including beatings and knife stabbings.

He had been held captive for 37 days and hidden in the forest area more than 4,000 meters north of Mee Kyaung Tet village, near Hlay Phoe Khaung.

Due to lack of food, beatings, kicking, stone-throwing, and knife stabbings, he sustained injuries all over his body, with broken bones in places, became extremely thin and weak, and appeared deeply traumatized and fearful.

Similarly, on January 4, three local residents from Maungdaw who were heading to Bangladesh for medical treatment were reportedly abducted and extorted for money by the terrorist groups ARSA and RSO.

Along the Arakan-Bangladesh border in the northern part of Maungdaw Township, Islamist extremist terrorist groups such as ARSA, RSO, and ARA have repeatedly committed acts of kidnapping local residents for ransom, extortion, and killings, according to reports.

source@arakanprincessmedia