১ নম্বর সেক্টরের কতিপয় গেরিলা অপারেশন
[মেজর (অবঃ) রফিক-উল-ইসলাম, বীর উত্তম-এর ২০ মার্চ ১৯৮৩ তারিখে গৃহীত সাক্ষাৎকার থেকে]
Of the numerous raids, ambushes and attacks in all the sectors, a number of actions have been enumerated in the following texts. These actions would depict a picture of the war and the gradual process of transformation of the inexperienced freedom fighters into an effective and cohesive fighting force through continuous actions against the Pakistanis all over the country.
No.1 Sector: A number of small guerilla groups comprising of 3 to 5 students, trained on the use of hand-grenades and small arms were being inducted into Bangladesh from as early as the first week of May. The attacks were primarily to kill leading collaborators as well as officers of the Pakistan Army. The first organized guerilla group with appropriate training on weapons and explosives was sent in No.1 Sector on June 4, through Baishnapur area in the afternoon. On June 10, one our fighting patrol laid an ambush near Iliaku on Ramgrh-karerhat road. In the subsequent encounter, 4 Pakistanis were killed. Our troops withdrew without suffering any casualty.
It may be mentioned here that this road of about 15 miles from karerhat to Ramgarh passes through mountain area covered with dense forests. There is negligible human habitation. The mountains and the jungles provide excellent hiding places for the guerillas. There have been innumerable actions on this road. Pakistani strong defences were at Karerhat. Hiaku and Ramgrah, controlling the major roads leading upto Chittagong, 50 miles away. These positions mutually support each other and there had been heavy movement of traffic between these 3 centres throughout the war. The movement was necessitated by the need to supply arms, ammunition, fucl, ration, reinforcement and evacuation of casualties. At a later stage the Pakistanis did build up some reserve of arms, ammunition and ration, But due to the fast changing nature of the battle and the increasing number of casualties the Pakistanis had to maintain heavy traffic all through the war.
From June onward action by our regular troops as well as the guerillas against the Pakistanis were becoming more organized and effective.
The total frontage of No.1 sector was approximately 400 miles of which 50 miles were the active front. The entire active front was divided into 5 sub-sectors for the purpose of carrying out regular guerilla operations. Throughout the war there has been regular actions along the active frontage against the Pakistanis in every sub- sector. Besides this the trained guerillas had kept the Pakistanis restless through raids and ambushes deep inside Bangladesh.
On June 21 a raid was conducted on the Pakistani defences at Sreenagar arca by 10 guerillas who crept close to the defences under cover of darkness. Earlier, the defences had been reconnoitered to identify the positions of the automatic and semi- automatic weapons. The raiding party successfully neutralized these weapon positions by 75 mm rocket launchers. There after the raiders lobbed grenades inside a number of bunkers and
