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Battle of Sylhet

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Siege of Sylhet
Part of Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Date7–16 December 1971
Location
Sylhet, Bangladesh
Result

Bangladeshi-Indian victory

  • Surrender of Pakistani forces at Sylhet
  • Sylhet captured by Indian forces[1][2]
Belligerents
 Pakistan

The Battle of Sylhet[a][b][3][4][5][6][7] was a major battle fought between the advancing Indian Army, Bangladesh Forces and the defending Pakistan Army at Sylhet during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The battle took place from 7 December to 15 December.[1] It was a succession of the Battle of Gazipur in Kulaura.[8][9]

Background

On 21 November 1971, the 4th battalion of the 5th Gorkha Rifles crossed the Surma River. After heavy fighting, they captured Atgram along with a large amount of arms and ammunition.[10]

Deployments

India

The 8th Mountain Division was responsible for the operations in Sylhet. This included:[10]

Objectives

Pakistan

Pakistan adopted a fortress strategy. In accordance with this strategy, ten cities, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Bogra, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Bhairab Bazar, Comilla, and Chittagong, were converted into fortresses.[11]

Battle

Following the Indian intervention of East Pakistan, 202nd infantry Brigade of Pakistan army was the sole defence of Sylhet. Unknown to the Indian and Bangladeshi forces, Iftikhar Rana transported his brigade and retreat to Sylhet in order to support Salimulah Chohan the commander of 202nd brigade at Jalalabad Cantonment. On Indian formation, both of Gorkha Battalions divided their operations through four companies. On 7 December after aerial surveillance, 14 Mil Mi-4 helicopters took off with 4th and 5th Gorkha Rifles landing at pre-selected spots. Around 384[12]

On 16 December Pakistani army troops consisting of 107 officers, 219 Junior commissioned officers, and 6,190 soldiers surrendered to the Bangladeshi-Indian troops as a part of Pakistani Instrument of Surrender.[13]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Bengali: সিলেটের যুদ্ধ
  2. ↑ Hindi: सिलहट का युद्ध

Citations

  1. 1 2 Battle Of Sylhet. Defence India Archived 10 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Cardozo, Ian (21 June 2021). 1971: Stories of Grit and Glory from the Indo-Pak War. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-028-8.
  3. ↑ Sarkar, Col Bhaskar (8 December 2020). "Battle of Sylhet 1971 War". Indian Defence Review. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  4. ↑ Pradhan, S. D. (7 August 2022). "Deception during 1971 War: Case of a brigade that was not there". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Army Day 2022: Brigadier Rattan Kaul recounts his time during the Battle of Sylhet". The Free Press Journal. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "When BBC error helped India in 1971 war". Hindustan Times. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Battle of Sylhet - Bharat Rakshak - Indian Army & Land Forces". Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Team, The Kootneeti (8 October 2021). "Air operations: 1971 — The war which shaped the subcontinent [Event]". Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Archives, The National. "The National Archives - Homepage". The National Archives. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  10. 1 2 Praval, K. C. (1987). Indian army after independence. New Delhi: Lancer International. p. 464. ISBN 81-7062-014-7.
  11. ↑ Salik, Siddiq (1977). Witness to Surrender. Oxford University Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-19-577257-1.
  12. ↑ Cardozo, Ian (21 June 2021). 1971: Stories of Grit and Glory from the Indo-Pak War. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-028-8.
  13. ↑ "Battle of Sylhet - Bharat Rakshak - Indian Army & Land Forces". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 27 November 2023.

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