32 Pak soldiers killed in series of guerilla attacks
MUJIBNAGAR, JUNE 12 – Mukti Fouj guerillas made a series of attacks on Pakistani positions in the Comilla sector in the last two days. killing at least 28 Pakistani soldiers, according to Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, reports UNI.
Twenty soldiers were killed when guerillas ambushed a Pakistani Army column near Fakirhat on Thursday. Eight more troops were killed and two jeeps captured in the Mayabazar areas.
The freedom-fighters also threw grenade at the branch offices of Pakistan National Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, Habib Bank, the Town Hall and the Judge Court in Comilla town.
Road communication in the Kasba area of the same sector was disrupted and the power station at Brahmanbaria was damaged in a grenade attack.
Guerillas also launched fresh offensives in the Sylhet sector, where there were battles at Teliapara and Mirzapur.
Our Correspondent at Jalpaiguri adds : Mukti Fouj commandos killed four Khan soldiers and one officer at Pachagar on June 9 and are now reported to be marching ahead towards Daliganj from Tentulia. They arrested one Pak spy named Amir Ali yesterday at Haldibari on the Dewanganj border. Some documents were recovered from him.
Meanwhile Mr. A. K. H. Kamaruzzaman, Home Minister of Bangladesh, told reporters in a liberated area today that the Pakistani troops had so far suffered 46,000 casualties-13,000 killed and the rest injured-since the beginning of the liberation struggle.
He said the Army was no longer sending injured troops back to West Pakistan as the presence of a large number of crippled soldiers might give out the real situation in Bangladesh to people in West Pakistan.
The Home Minister, who was now touring different liberated areas, said that he had found the morale of the Mukti Fouj and the people very high everywhere notwithstanding the inhuman atrocities perpetrated by the occupation army.
Mr. Kamaruzzaman also visited some of the guerilla training camps in the liberated areas.
Meanwhile, according to reports reaching the liberated zones, the Pakistani agents who helped the troops are now taking shelter in army cantonments at several places for fear of being killed by guerillas.
Recent reports in Dacca English dailies confirm that gorillas are active in East Bengal capital. One of these reports says that country-made grenades were thrown at several buildings in Dacca to “create panic and feeling of insecurity among the peace loving citizens”.
According to these reports the Martial Law authorities had threatened “exemplary punishment” to those who threw the grenades. The authorities also said that persons providing useful information about the activities of the miscreants will be duly rewarded.
The Pakistan Army was in administrative control only of three Bangladesh towns, while its “jittery troops” were killing “anybody they could lay their hands on”, according to an interview broadcast by the BBC today.
The radio interviewed Mr. Shafiqul Rehman in its “outlook” programme and described him as an eye-witness to the happenings in East Bengal.
Mr. Rahman said that only three towns, Dacca, Rangpur and Khulna were in the administrative control of the army. Others were completely deserted; there were no offices, no banks and no courts.
He said the river transport was completely disrupted. Between Dhaka and Chittagong only one way ticket was available. Otherwise, in fact no transport is available, he said.
Our Jalpaiguri Correspondent reports : According to reports across the border, the Pakistani Army is now engaging teachers, advocates, doctors and other civilians for the work of unloading various materials arriving at Parbatipur and Saidpur stations due to non-availability of porters.
There is an acute food crisis in the Pakistan-occupied area in the northern sector because transport of foodstuffs has become difficult owing to incessant rain for the last few days in this region. This has been creating a feeling of discontent amongst the Pak soldiers. Famine condition is prevailing almost everywhere under Pak occupation and no foodstuffs are available not even salt or mustard oil, in the market places.
Our Dhupguri Correspondent adds : According to reports received here from across the border, great dissatisfaction has been prevalent amongst the non-Punjabi troops and the Pubjabi forces Non-Punjabi troops revolted and refused to work with the Punjabi Army men.
Following a clash between these two groups some Punjabi soldiers received wounds, it is reported.
According to Mr. Gerard Viratelle, correspondent of the Paris daily Le Monde, who was in the Press party taken tound some districts of Bangladesh by the Martial Law Authorities recently all attempts to introduce a semblance of a civil rule in Bangladesh had failed.
In a front-page article in Le Monde, Mr. Viratelle wrote that the local civil servants who remained at their posts have all been superseded by military officers or by Pakistanis who have arrived from the western wing.
Mr. Viratelle said that the vicious Pakistani propaganda against India has had a big impact on the West Pakistanis. They view the Bangladesh struggle as “secession” engineered by “India and Hindus”. They “do not bother about the nuance between” Indians and Hindus” he adds.
The people of Bangladesh however do not pay much heed to this “crush India” slogan. he said.
Pakistani troops today attempted to capture a Border security Force patrol Party by opening light machine gun and mortar fire on a border area near Bongaon today.
According to an official report the Pakistanis not only opened fire but also tried to encircle the patrol party even though it was well within Indian territory. The patrol party returned the fire. No casualties were reported from the BSF side.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 13.06.1971