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HT This Day: April 12, 1971 -- Lalmonirhat falls to Bangla forces
While heavy fighting continued in most parts of Bangla Desh, reports said the liberation army, had gained control of Lalmonirhat
While heavy fighting continued in most parts of Bangla Desh, reports said the liberation army, had gained control of Lalmonirhat.
A report also said the liberation forces yesterday captured a large Pakistani convoy near Hajibani between Chandpur and Comilla, consisting of 130 vehicles. A large amount of arms and ammunition was also seized from the retreating Pakistan troops.
In Dacca, the liberation army today launched a strong offensive, ‘operation Dacca,’ by opening a new front near Narsingdi, and engaged men of the Pakistani Army at Tarapur. Another report said the Mukti Fauz inflicted a crushing defeat on a Pakistani Army column near Tangail, a sub-divisional town of Mymensingh district.
The Bangla Desh forces also consolidated hold on Sy1het town by bagging the radio and railway stations, but lost Pabna and Iswardi to the Pakistan Army.
The liberation forces also made a determined effort to eject Pakistani troops from the cantonment area three km from Rajshahi.
Meanwhile, reports have come in from several parts of Bangla Desh of heavy strafing and bombing by Pakistani planes.
There was heavy bombing at Kushtia, Jessore, Rajshabi, Sylhet and Feni. Pakistani bombers also bombed the outskirts of Chittagong, and battery mortars and I tanks were also used. The bombing in this area appears to be aimed at making way for army engineers to repair the vital Comilla-Feni-Chittagong road link, cut off earlier by liberation forces.
Despite air strikes, the liberation forces today claimed they had complete control over Mymensingh, and except for a small pocket in Sy1het town and Salutikar airfield, the Mukti Fauz was in complete control of Sylhet town, the northern parts of Comilla district is also in the hands of the liberation army, although the Pakistani Army maintained its hold on the other parts. The Pakistani Army also reported having captured Maniganj, 25 miles west of Dacca.
However, Mukti Fauz foiled successfully an attempt by the Pakistani Army to send reinforcements by river transport to the beleaguered troops in the Salutikar area of Syhlet district.
Reports have been received from Comilla today of suspected trouble within the Pakistani Army camp in the area. Senior Pakistani army officers were seen going in and out of Pakistani held areas, giving rise to speculation that the troops may have told their superiors that they had had enough of the fighting.
3,000 lives lost
The Bangla Desh Revolutionary Command today estimated that the Pakistan Army had lost 3.000 men in their 15-day effort to crush the freedom fighters of Bangla R: K4 Jd ,.# tani troops missing, or arrested by the liberation forces.
A top Bangla Desh force commander told UPI that the liberation army captured the important eastern town of Comilla and its military cantonment on Friday.
The commander said “it is a prestige victory for us, but a victory achieved at a premium price.”
The commander admitted that at least 1,000 of his soldiers had perished under heavy shelling from the “enemy” and double that number of villagers living around Comilla had died as a result of shooting by the Pakistanis.
