Operation Hotel Intercontinental | |||||
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Part of Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||
Map showing Bangladesh Liberation War Sectors | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Bangladesh | Pakistan | ||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
ATM Haider | Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi | ||||
Strength | |||||
Mukti Bahini Commandos of Crack Platoon | Pakistan Army : ContentsParamilitary Forces:East Pakistan Civil Armed Force HQ wings [1] |
Operation Hotel Intercontinental was an attack on the InterContinental Dhaka hotel on 9 June 1971, in Dhaka, then part of East Pakistan, in the Bangladesh Liberation War. The attack was carried out by members of the commando unit of Mukti Bahini.
In June 1971, the World Bank sent a mission to observe the situation in East Pakistan. The media cell of Pakistan government maintained that the situation in East Pakistan was stable. Major Khaled Mosharraf, a sector commander of Mukti Bahini, planned to deploy a special commando team. The task assigned to the team was to carry out commando operations and to terrorise Dhaka. The main objective of this team was to prove that the situation was not stable. Moreover, Pakistan at that time was expecting economic aid. The plan was to stop the World Bank mission, and to make the UNHCR understand the true situation of East Pakistan, and therefore not provide financial aid. [2] [3] Khaled, along with Major ATM Hyder (a former SSG Commando), another sector commander, formed the Crack Platoon, initially of 17 members. They received commando training in Melaghar Camp. [4] From Melaghar, commandos of the Crack Platoon headed for Dhaka on 4 June 1971 and launched the guerrilla operation on 5 June. [2] Later, the number of commandos was increased, and the platoon was split and deployed in different areas surrounding Dhaka city. [5]
On 9 June 1971 the commandos launched the first attack at InterContinental Dhaka. The commandos stopped in a car in front of the hotel, armed with ENERGA grenades, bayonets, and submachine guns. Five grenades were thrown in the attack. The operation was reported in BBC news. That was, many Pakistani soldiers were killed and wounded. [3]
Mahbubul Haque Khan, known as Azam Khan, was a Bangladeshi singer-songwriter, record producer, and lead singer for the pop-rock band Uccharon. He was also a freedom fighter who took part in the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. He is considered to be one of the greatest artists in the history of Bangladeshi folk music and a founding figure of Bangla rock.
Mohammad Ataul Gani Osmani was a Bangladeshi military officer and revolutionary. His military career spanned three decades, beginning with his service in the British Indian Army in 1939. He fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II, and 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 the first full general from the Bangladesh Army in 1972.
Major General Khaled Mosharraf BU was a Bangladeshi army officer who is known for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the subsequent coups in post-independence Bangladesh. After deposing Khondakar Mustaq Ahmad in the 3 November 1975 coup, Mosharraf was assassinated on 7 November 1975.
The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971. Some of the major events of the war are listed in the timeline below.
East Pakistan Air Operations covers the activity of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and Pakistan Army Aviation units in former East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The operations involved the interdiction, air defense, ground support, and logistics missions flown by the Bangladesh Air Force, Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy Aviation wing in support of the Mukti Bahini and later Indian Army in Bengal.
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.
Shafi Imam Rumi was a guerilla fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the eldest son of Jahanara Imam. In her memoir about the war, Ekatorer Dinguli, Rumi was portrayed as the premier character. Rumi was murdered by the Pakistani Army.
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment".
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.
The Mukti Bahini, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. They were initially called the Mukti Fauj.
Z Force, also known as the Tura Brigade, was the first military brigade of Bangladesh Forces, formed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 under Major Ziaur Rahman along with the consent of the revolutionary government of Bangladesh in exile. The brigade was formed with the 1st, 3rd and 8th Battalion of East Bengal Regiment on 7 July 1971. It is the first ever complete brigade formed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The Crack Platoon was a special commando team of the Mukti Bahini. which was formed in 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was formed by young members of the Mukti Bahini, which carried out commando operations in Dhaka and its surroundings and led by Major Khaled Mosharraf. The commandos were mostly students and civilians, who received guerrilla training later in the training camps for Mukti Bahini and then engaged in battle against the Pakistani Army.
Shariful Alam Imam Ahmed was a participator in Bangladesh Liberation War. He is most widely remembered as the husband of "Shaheed Janani" Jahanara Imam and as the father of Guerrilla fighter Shafi Imam Rumi. He is a character in Jahanara Imam's famous memoir Ekattorer Dingulee.
Major General Khaled Mosharraf was assassinated on November 7, 1975. He was a Bangladeshi military officer who was the Sector Commander of Bangladesh Forces Sector 2 and K-Force Brigade Commander during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Bangladesh Field Hospital was a temporary medical centre under the Sector-2 during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. The hospital was an initiative of Captain Akhtar Ahmed, who was a physician of 4th East Bengal Regiment in Comilla Cantonment. It was situated in Tripura, India.
Kilo Flight was the code name for the Mukti Bahini combat aviation formation during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. It consisted of one DHC-3 Otter plane and one Alouette III helicopter, both carrying rocket pods and machine guns for launching hit-and-run attacks on Pakistani targets, and one DC-3 Dakota for logistical missions. 9 Bengali pilots and 58 former PAF personnel formed the unit under the command of Group Captain A. K. Khandker in September 1971. The aircraft were supplied by Indian Authorities and the formation was led by Squadron Leader Sultan Mahmud under the operational control of IAF base Jorhat. The unit started training in October 1971 at Dimapur in Nagaland, and this unit was the first to launch airstrikes on Pakistani targets in East Pakistan on December 4, 1971, by attacking oil depots at Narayanganj and Chittagong. In total the unit flew 90 sorties and 40 combat missions between December 4 and 16, 1971. After the war, this unit formed the core of the nascent Bangladesh Air Force.
Khondkar Nazmul Huda was a veteran of the Bangladesh Liberation War. The Bangladesh government awarded him the title of Bir Bikrom for his bravery in the war of independence.
Abdus Salek Choudhury was a veteran of the Bangladesh Liberation War. For his bravery in the Bangladeshi war of independence, The Government of Bangladesh awarded him the title of Bir Uttom. He held the rank of Captain during the war. He served as Commander of Sector-2.
Akram Ahmed was a veteran of the Bangladesh Liberation War as a pilot as part of Operation Kilo Flight, the beginning of Bangladesh Air Force. For his bravery in the war, the government of Bangladesh awarded him the title of Bir Uttom, one of a few civilians to have received the award.
Khalil Bahini was a militia during the Bangladesh Liberation War.