THE BALTIMORE SUN, NOVEMBER 2, 1971
BENGAL FIGHTING REPORTED
INDIAN TROOPS TRY TO SILENCE
PAKISTANI GUNS
By Prim Sabharwal
New Delhi Bureau of The Sun
New Delhi-In the first major incident involving regular troops. Indian forces have struck at Pakistani artillery that was firing across the Bengal border, a spokesman reported here last night.
Early this morning heavy air activity involving both planes; and helicopters was heard over New Delhi. A major military airfield is just outside the city. The craft appeared to be flying north.
There was no indication whether the fights were connected with the “counteraction” Sun day night and yesterday morning near Kamalpur, a small town on the eastern frontier of East Pakistan.
Refused to comment
Sources here speculated that the planes might be headed for the western border, where Pakistan has threatened to act if Indian troops attacked in the east. A Defense Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the air activity.
In another development, the central government took over the administration of Tripura, the small states that forms a salient into East Pakistan from the east and has been the scene of much fighting involving Pakistani forces and Bengali guerrillas supported from India.
The Indian spokesman said Pakistani artillery had been shelling Kamalpur 4 miles inside India, for eleven days. He did not say whether Indian forces had crossed the border but did say no aircraft were involved.
Reliable sources said the Pakistanis had sustained heavy casualties, but no details were available.
While it did not refer to the Kamalpur action, Radio Pakistan said “India troops and their supporters”-the latter phrase being Pakistan’s term for the Bengali rebels-had tried to intrude into East Pakistan under cover of an Indian artillery barrage.
The radio reported action in Sylhet district, part of which adjoins Tripura, and in Rajshahi and Dinajpur districts in the northern and northwestern parts of East Pakistan. It said 72 Indians and Bengalis were killed and 39 injured in all the incidents.
Violation of agreements
The Indian statement was pointedly prefaced with a reference to the remark by Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi in London Sunday night that “the situation is worsening and the crisis is becoming more acute.”
Both Indian and Pakistani troops are massed along the eastern and western, frontiers in violation of agreements made after the. short 1965 war that they would remain several miles behind the frontier.
India is pressing Pakistan to resolve the civil strife in East Pakistan and to take back the more than 9 million refugees who have fled since the Pakistani Army moved to crush the Bengali separatists last March.
Pakistan has threatened to retaliate-perhaps on the western frontier where its relative position is better-if India continues to support the Bengali guerrillas. Some guerrilla units are said to be operating from sanctuaries in India.
Thus far there have been few incidents 011 the western border where guerrilla intrusions from Pakistan into Kashmir gradually led to a three week war between the two nations in 1965.
A Pakistani aircraft flew over Srinagar, capital of “Kashmir, for the second time in two day yesterday, but was repelled by antiaircraft fire.