Dated 11th December 1971 , Saturday

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Paras dropped near Dhaka
Troops from the Parachute Brigade land at Tangail, 100km away

Another 65 War Pilot  injured

Dec 11 Rajasthan Sector: There seems to be something about IAF Pilots who have distinguished themselves in 1965 getting injured in this war. Close on the heels of Sqn Ldr Denzil Keelor getting injured after ejecting from his MIG which was shot down, news has arrived of another pilot who has distinguished himself in 1965 suffereing injuries in an air raid.

Sqn Ldr Madhukar Shantaram Jatar won a Vir Chakra  .More

DEC 11 : EASTERN SECTOR: Today afternoon at around 4.30pm, a large fleet of Indian Air Force transport aircraft dropped nearly a 1000 Parachute troops belonging to the 50th Parachute Brigade at the town of Tangail, hardly 100 km away from Dhaka.  The task of this force was mainly to cut off the retreat of Pakistani troops from the north towards Dhaka, and also link up with our forces and advance towards the East pakistani capital.

The Para group is believed to consist of troops from the 2nd Para Battalion, led by Lt Col Kulwant

Singh Pannu, aided by an Artillery battery of guns, an Engineering detachment and other administrative troops from 50th Brigade.  The airdrop was carried out by a variety of aircraft including 6 An-12, 20 Packets, 2 Caribous and 2 Dakotas.

To mislead the enemy regarding the correct location of the main drop, the IAF also carried out some fient drops where dummys were dropped from Caribou aircraft.

The soldiers who were dropped have been greeted with jubilant crowds at all places as usual, many local villagers even helped the Paras carry their equipment and ammunition.

There were no mishaps except for Hangup from...[Read Full Story]

"..hope to find a Sten instead of a Pen.."
A Pakistani commander's foolhardy reply

Dec 11, Jamalpur: Operating in the central sector, North of Dhaka is the 101 Communication Zone, a static formation which is now engaged in a war of movements. 101 CZ has two fighting formations with it, 95 Mtn Brigade and FJ Sector. Already this formation had a change of command in the first days, when the GOC, Maj Gen Gurbux Singh was wounded in the

legs after his jeep went over a minefield. Under the command of Maj Gen G Nagra, who has been deputed from 2 Mtn Div, the formation was tasked with capture of key towns and advance upto Dhaka.

Leading the advance was Brig Hardev Singh Kler, known as Harry to his friends.  Brig Kler's list of

objectives includes capture of Jamalpur fortress which is just across the Brahmaputra River by the end of first week. As per the original plan, the initial objectives were achieved and the Brigade found itself outside Jamalpur fortress by Dec 09 morning. The Brigade had concentrated two battalions, 1 Maratha and 13 Guards, who   ....[Read Full Story]

Pts 3980 3550 4190 Cleared

Dec 11, Kargil: The remaining objectives of occupying Points 3980, 3550 and 4190 has been succesfully accomplished by the 121 Brigade in the Kargil sector. Brig M L Whig's troops comprising of the Gorkhas and Guards have assaulted these mountain top posts and the enemy was forced to withdraw. Our casualities have numbered a total of 80 killed and missing since the beginning of the operations. A total of 30 plus posts have been captured.

Previous Issues

This place was initally the objective of another formation, the 39th Division which attempted and failed to secure it over the previous days.  

The task was given to Maj Gen WAG Pinto, GOC 54 Infantry Division (Also known as Bison Divsion) a couple of days back.After doing proper recce of the battle area and making preparations, 54 Div launched thier offensive yesterday night. The enemy had developed the positon quite well with minefields and bunkers all around. There was fierce resistance from the enemy troops [Read Full Story]

Dec 11, Shakargarh Sector: A fierce battle ensued in the Shakargarh sector, in which our troops of 74th Infantry Brigade under Brig Ujaggar Singh, assaulted and captured the key village of

Chakra. This place has been an important stronghold of Pakistani troops and Armour and has been an irritant in our advance into the Shakargarh Bulge.

Dec 11, Washington: The United States has confirmed that it would be the US 7th Fleet that would be sailing into the Bay of Bengal. However the Officials have clarified that this was not a rescue mission to evacuate Pakistani Military personnel, but a "mission to evacuate US Citizens trapped" in the warzone. The explanation by the American Embassy sounds very far fetched as the number of US Citizens in East Pakistan may number a couple of dozen at most and certainly does not require a Nuclear Carrier group for evacuation. This is surely an example of US Gunboat diplomacy to the fore.

Dec 11, Dacca: In an apparent comedy of errors, The governor of East Pakistan, A H Malik prepared a  "Cease-fire" Proposal to the UN in which Indian Troops were to withdraw from East Pakistan territory, A transfer of power to be given to the Bengalis and the 'Honorable' withdrawal of all west pakistani troops from East Pakistani Territory was to be conducted.

This proposal was floated to the UN Representative in Dacca by Governor Malik, who stated that it has the "Express Approval" of President Yahya Khan.

He also reiterated that this proposal was not a "Surrender" Proposal but  a proposal for "Peaceful transfer of Power".

In a beligerant tone, he mentioned that if the proposal was not accepted, then the Troops in East Pakistan will fight to the 'last man , last round'.  This proposal was sent to Yahya Khan for approval.   This proposal was today bought before Mr. Paul Henry, representative of UN Secretariat in New York, by Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali, who is the civilian advisor to Gen Niazi...[Read Full Story]