Fall of Jessore imminent, Pak army encircled
From A B MOOSA, BENAPOLE (BANGLADESH), NOV. 25 – The fall of Jessore town is imminent, in a three-pronged attack the Mukti Bahini has surrounded the town and its airport and is heavily shelling the cantonment. If heavy reinforcement does not arrive from Dacca the Pakistani Army may have to write off its 5,000 troops trapped inside the cantonment together with some 200 tanks and a large quantity of ammunition.
The thrust on Jessore, only 26 miles from the Indian border and 10 miles from the Bangladesh port city of Khulna, was well planned and kept a secret. The Bahini chose the western front of Bangladesh because with Jessore liberated it can use the airport to commission its Air Force. Originally, the plan was to launch the attack on the north-eastern front and cut off Chittagong port. Besides Dhaka and Chittagong, Jessore is the only other airport where jet planes can land and take off.
Mukti Bahinimen were slipping into Bangladesh in batches with arms during the last four weeks and took positions in the villages around Jessore. In the small hours of Monday they attacked the town from the nearby villages of Bagharpara and Kaliganj and started shelling the cantonment and the airport. As the Pakistani Army stood at the frontier apprehending an Indian attack the Mukti Bahini faced little resistance at the initial stage.
Continuous heavy firing by the Bahini forced the Pakistani Army, leaving a few thousand at the cantonment, to come out in the afternoon. They also brought their tanks into action. In the encounter more than 1,000 Pakistanis were killed before they withdrew to the fortified cantonment. The Mukti Bahini losses are estimated at about two dozen. In the tank battle 13 Pakistani tanks were immobilized.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Army of more than a division strength in Khulna and Jessore appears to be trapped as the land, sea and air routes to their main supply point Dacca have been cut off. The river route through Pabna has been disrupted by the Mukti Bahini, the land route through Kushtia is under heavy shelling while the airport has been badly damaged. The Pakistani Army is now gradually withdrawing to Zhenidaha, its second line of defense, a town 20 miles towards the north. They cannot move south as another column of the Mukti Bahini is proceeding from the south-west after liberating Satkhira in Khulna district.
If the Pakistani Army abandons Jessore, which seems imminent the whole of southern Bangladesh, including Chalna, one of the two sea ports, will be fully liberated. The major problem for the Pakistani Army will be to maintain the route of Dacca failing which they will meet their Dunkirk at Jessore. – (Asian News Service).
Our Staff Reporter adds :
The Mukti Bahini of Bangladesh, steadily advancing towards the Jessore Cantonment, have dislodged the Pakistani troops from Jhikargacha 15 kilometers west of Jessore on the Benapole-Jessore highway.
The Pakistani troops, badly rattled by the offensive, launched an air attack on an advancing column of the Mukti Bahini at Chowgacha about eight kilometers northeast of Jhikargacha.
The Bahini, undeterred by the Pakistani air-strikes and heavy artillery attacks, inch their way towards the Cantonment pushing the Pakistani troops further east.
Pakistani troops failed in their bid to retrieve strategically vital Chowgacha where they have already lost 13 tanks to the freedom fighters.
They were pushed further on the defensive after the Mukti Bahini secured control over the vital supply route between Jessore and Lalmonirhat Cantonments. The latter, a Pakistani base of operation for the districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur relies mainly for the supplies on Jessore. With the Mukti Bahini gaining access to the supply route, Pakistani troops stationed in Lalmonirhat are now virtually without any logistic support.
Mukti Bahini sources at Mujibnagar, encouraged by the successes of the freedom fighters in Rangpur, confidently predicted liberation of Rajshahi and Rangpur district in the next few days.
The freedom fighters also gained access to the vital Jessore-khulna; they advanced beyond Chuadanga to lay a siege of Kushtia town itself. Chuadanga has been liberated.
The Mukti Bahini mounted a two pronged attack on Kushtia town, one through Meherpur and the other along the Darsana-Chuadanga-Poradaha railway track.
The Bahini has achieved some spectacular successes in the last few days and the war of liberation in Bangladesh seems to have entered a decisive stage.
They have already established firm control over about 15000 square kilometers and restored civil administration over an extensive area in Bangladesh. A wide stretch of territory in the districts of Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Patuakhali has swung back to normal activities.
In Mymensingh district the freedom fighters have gained control over a vital Bazar and Kishoreganj. In Kishoreganj Pakistani troops are now trapped with no exit route and a determined Mukti Bahini on the march.
In Khulna district Pakistani troops have been cornered by the freedom fighter at Satkhira town. Heavy fighting is going on between the Pakistani troops and the Mukti Bahini on the outskirts of Satkhira isolated from the rest of the district.
The Pakistani troops suffered heavy casualties at the hands of the Mukti Bahini in an encounter at Bakshirhat in Noakhali district. About 100 Pakistani soldiers were killed and many more injured.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 26.11.1971