Battle of Dhalai | |||||||
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Part of Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
India Bangladesh | Pakistan | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Lt. Gen Sagat Singh [2] Brigadier Kailas Prasad Pandey [2] Lt. Col. Devasan (WIA) Brigadier Shiv Yadav (WIA) [2] [3] Major Mohammad Ziauddin | Major Javed † | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
1st East Bengal Regiment 61 Mountain Brigade [1] 7 Rajputana Rifles [4] 2 Artillery Brigade [3] | 12 Frontier Force [1] |
The Battle of Dhalai was fought between India and Pakistan before the formal start 1971 India-Pakistan War for the liberation of Bangladesh. [1] The battle started after an attack by Indian Army on Pakistani border outpost (BOP) in East Pakistan on 28 October and lasted until 3 November 1971. Three infantry battalions belonging to 61 Mountain Brigade, one battalion belonging to East Bengal Regiment and 7 Rajputana Rifles supported by an artillery-sized brigade of Indian army [3] [4] fought against a battalion-sized 12 Frontier Force of Pakistan army. [4] [5] [6] [7]
The task to capture Dhalai was initially given to Mukti Bahini. However, Mukti Bahini assault on Pakistani positions in Dhalai was unsuccessful. Later the Indian army took the task of capturing Dhalai. Pakistani troops under the command of Major Javed fought valiantly against the Indian troops. [4] After suffering fair number of casualties as result of fierce resistance put up by Frontier Force, Indian army under the command of Sagat Singh was able to capture Dhalai. [1] Pakistan troops in the area withdrew and Major Javed of Pakistan army was killed in the battle. Brigadier Shiv Yadav, [2] the Brigade commander and Lt. Col. Devasan of 7 Rajputana Rifles of Indian army were also badly injured in this battle. [4] Hamidur Rahman of East Bengal Regiment was also killed.
Hamidur Rahman of East Bengal Regiment was posthumously awarded the Bir Sreshtho, Bangladesh's highest award for valor, for his actions during the conflict. [8] [9]
General Sagat Singh was highly impressed by Brigadier Pandey's performance during the battle and he recommended him for Maha Vir Chakra, India's second-highest military award. [2]
The Battle of Longewala was one of the first major engagements in the western sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, fought between assaulting Pakistani forces and Indian defenders at the Indian border post of Longewala, in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. The battle was fought between 120 Indian soldiers accompanied by four Hawker Hunter and three HAL Marut fighter-bombers and 2,000–3,000 Pakistani soldiers accompanied by 30–40 tanks.
Hamidur Rahman was a sepoy in Bangladesh Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Rahman was killed on 28 October 1971 at Dholoi during the Battle of Dhalai, Srimangal during an attempt to capture the Pakistani Army position. The advancing Mukti Bahini column finally captured the Dhalai Border Outpost on 3 November 1971. He was posthumously awarded the Bir Sreshtho, the highest recognition of bravery in Bangladesh. The Dhalai post was eventually captured permanently by three infantry battalions belonging to 61 Mountain Brigade, one battalion belonging to East Bengal Regiment and 7 Rajputana Rifles supported by an artillery brigade of the Indian Army fought against 12 Frontier Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army.
The First and SecondBattles of Hilli were two major battles fought during the Bangladesh Liberation War on 22–24 November and 10–11 December 1971. They are generally regarded as the bloodiest battles of the eastern front of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The first battle saw, according to veterans of the battle, the fiercest fighting of the war, but the second was much tamer.
Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, was a Bengali military leader. Osmani's career spanned five decades, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in 1939. He fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II. After the partition of India in 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army and served in the East Bengal Regiment, retiring as a colonel in 1967. Osmani joined the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 as the commander-in-chief of the nascent Bangladesh Forces. Regarded as the founder of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, Osmani retired as a four-star general from the Bangladesh Army in 1972.
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Operation Jackpot was a codename for three operations undertaken by the Bengali Mukti Bahini in former East Pakistan against the Federation of Pakistan at the climax of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
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Task Force 74 was a naval task force that has existed twice. The first Task Force 74 was a mixed Allied force of Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and United States Navy ships which operated against Japanese forces from 1943 to 1945 during the Pacific campaign. The second Task Force 74 was assembled from the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet that was deployed to the Bay of Bengal by the Nixon administration in December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War. The fleet was sent to intimidate Indian forces at the height of the conflict. The Soviet Union, which was actively backing Indian actions both politically and militarily during the war responded by deploying two groups of cruisers and destroyers as well as a submarine armed with nuclear warheads in response to the American military presence in the area. From 18 December 1971 to 7 January 1972, the Soviet Navy trailed the American fleet throughout the Indian Ocean. The task force number is now used by the U.S. Seventh Fleet's submarine force.
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The Battle of Kamalpur, launched against the Pakistan Army, is one of the most significant military engagements fought by the Guerrilla armed resistance group, The Mukti Bahini in 1971 during it's war of independence from Pakistan. The Pakistani Army set up a military camp at Kamalpur which was attacked by 1st East Bengal Regiment of Z Force several times. The first attack was made on June 12, and a second attack was made on July 31, 1971, also another attack at 22 October 1971, in total there were 18 battles in Kamalpur, Syed Sadruzzaman Helal led 14 battles against the Pakistani Army which heavily weakened the Pakistani forces present in Kamalpur. India joined the war at Late November, they sent their military formations to take Kamalpur, but it was harder for the Indian Army than expected, they made more than 3 unsuccessful attempts to take Kamalpur, the Indian Army's moral was deteriorating, and Casualties were heavily increasing but they knew the Pakistani forces had no artillery, only 2 mortars left, finally, on December 4, the Pakistani Army was overrun and withdrawn and fell back to their headquarters at Jamalpur after an attack by the Bangladeshi Forces and the Indian Army. The Battle of Kamalpur was the deadliest major military engagement in the Bangladeshi War of Liberation, The Mukti Bahini lost 194 soldiers in the battle The Indian Army lost more than 46 soldiers in the battle and a 113 wounded Meanwhile, The Pakistani Army had the most casualties, The Pakistani Army lost 497 soldiers in the battle and around 162 and 220 soldiers captured In the aftermath of the battle, Pakistani troops were defeated and Jamalpur became liberated from Pakistani occupation.
The Eastern Command of the Pakistan Army was a corps-sized military formation headed by a lieutenant-general, who was designated the Commander Eastern Command. After the partition of India by United Kingdom, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was divided into two territories separated by 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Most of the assets of the Pakistan armed forces were stationed in West Pakistan; the role of the Pakistan armed forces in East Pakistan was to hold that part of the country until the Pakistani forces defeated India in the west. The Pakistan Army created the Eastern Command, with one commander in the rank of Lieutenant General responsible for the command. The armed forces, had drawn up a plan to defend Dhaka by concentrating all their forces along the Dhaka Bowl.
Prior to Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, India had no plans for large scale military action in East Pakistan. Since the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the primary objective of the Indian Army Eastern Command was the defence of the Indian northern and eastern borders, defending the "Shiliguri Corridor", and on combating insurgencies raging in Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and the Naxalites in West Bengal.
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The Bangladesh Freedom Honour is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh for foreigners or non-nationals. The award was posthumously conferred on former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi on 25 July 2011. The award recognises her role as an ally during the Bangladesh War of Liberation and her capacity to manage such a complex regional war. A Bangladeshi national committee had nominated her for the special honour for her "unique" role in "offering training to freedom fighters and refuge to millions of people who fled the country and building world opinion for Bangladesh's independence". Indian National Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, the daughter -in-law of Indira Gandhi, received the award from Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman at a grand ceremony in Dhaka attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and nearly 1,000 top dignitaries.
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Mohammad Ziauddin, BU is a retired Bangladeshi military officer, who was the Commanding Officer of the 1st East Bengal Regiment during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was awarded the Bir Uttom, the country's second highest gallantry award for his outstanding bravery in the Liberation War. His certificate number was 22.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Located right on the border between Tripura and East Pakistan and about 35 kilometres south-east of the important town of Maulvi Bazaar, the verdant gardens saw a pitched battle for over three days between 61 Brigade and 12 Frontier Force, a Pakistan Army battalion from 14 Division.
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