পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/৮৮৭

855 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ৩৫৫। পূর্বাঞ্চলে পাক-বাহিনীর দি ষ্টেটসম্যান ১৯ জুলাই, ১৯৭১ আত্মরক্ষারমূলক তৎপরতা THE STATESMAN, JULY 19, 1971 PAK TROOPS ON THE DEFENSIVE IN EASTERN SECTOR From S. Chakrabarti Agartala, July 17, - Information trickling from across the border suggests that Pakistani forces are trying to save the Dacca metropolis, Moynamati Cantonment and Chittagong port from anticipated guerrilla attacks. According to these sources, the largest number of Pakistani troops have been mobilized in the eastern sector and the Chittagong- Sylhet sector alone have a strength of about 70,000 troops. The strength of the forces in the western sector is thought to be less. The Pakistani effort to keep intact the land routes linking Dacca, Moynamati and Chittagong has failed so far. They have not been able to install the urgently needed telephone linking the strategic army points in the extreme countryside along the border despite a three-month struggle. During the last month, the freedom fighters have carried out nearly 90 successful guerrilla and commando operations at many points in the eastern region, indicating heavy casualties on Pakistani troops. According to reliable estimates about 1,700 Pakistani soldiers were either killed or seriously injured during these operations, while the loss on the Mukti Fouj side is stated to be minor. In Dacca, skirmishes between guerrillas and the army are frequent and when this happens the frightened and numbed city is turned into a turbulent battle-field. On June 28, immediately after Yahya Khan's broadcast, a series of guerrilla attacks took place at several important points of the city, while the "Pak Bay Company" complex in Narayanganj was destroyed by guerrillas on July 3. People living in areas far from the complex saw the raging flames throughout the night. The freedom fighters are now concentrating on strategic army points, important city and industrial areas and communication links it is claimed. Meanwhile, the change in the Pakistani Army strategy in the eastern region has become more pronounced. The Pakistani troops now mainly engaged in defending their bases in the rural areas and controlling important land water routes have created a "vacuum zone" retreating from their extreme points on the several hundred miles border between Sylhet and Chittagong with the exception of their strongholds there mainly to avoid the innumerable casualties inflicted on them and presumably to build up a stronger second line of defense in the interior. Troops scattered in small camps in the border areas have been withdrawn to their strongholds in the rear.