পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/২৭৭

এই পাতাটির মুদ্রণ সংশোধন করা হয়েছে, কিন্তু বৈধকরণ করা হয়নি।
বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড
245
শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ
১০৫। শান্তির প্রতি নতুন হুমকি ওয়াশিংটন পোস্ট ২৭ অক্টোবর, ১৯৭১

THE WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 27, 1971

BENGAL BATTLE CLAIMS: NEW THREAT TO PEACE

Conflicting Reports Abound In East Pakistan Warfare

By Lee Lescaze

Washington Past Foreign Services

 Chhatak, East Pakistan October 26 -One of the longest and largest recent battles of the war in Pakistan was fought around this small border town two weeks ago.

 Like many other events during the Pakistan crisis, the Chhatak battel gave rise to conflicting reports from India and Pakistan which, as much as the actual lighting. keep alive the possibility that onc nation will believe itself so wronged it will opt for a full scale war with its neighbor.

 Hostility increased between the two nations after the Pakistani army moved in March to crush an independence movement by Bengal is in East Pakistan. Pakistan's western wing is dominated by Punjabis while the majority in East Pakistan, separated from the west by 1,000 miles of India, is Bengali, the same as the neighboring area in India.

 During the recent fighting around Chhatak, India's national radio announced that East Bengal guerrillas, called Mukti Bahini, which have received support from India.

 A number of Pakistani soldiers listened to the broadcast as they rested in their Chhatak headquarters after the three day battle. One of them, Ltd. Col. Sarfraz Khan Malik, had been killed, the Indian radio said.

 The colonel, a blunt man who believes his government is being too lenient with East Pakistan Bengalis was not amused by the Indian broadcast, “Who can believe such liars?” he asked. “It's damn annoying. I had to telephone my wife in West Pakistan just to say that I'm still alive."

 Although Pakistani troops still hold Chhatak and the five mites of scrub fields between the town and India's border, the attack does not appear to have been a total failure.

 The guerrillas have been concentrating on economic targets throughout East Pakistan. Many rail lines are cut, the army has kept roads open only by rapid It building of blown bridges; power pylons and electric power stations have been sabotaged and fact ones have been burned.

 A principal target of the guerrilla attack here was the cement factory-the only one in East Pakistan a region of more than 70 million people. Tile factory is now closed. Roofs of several buildings in the factory grounds have been torn by artillery shells and some of the machinery is damaged. Most important, the factory's 500 workers fled during the attack and it is not certain how many are willing to return.