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Noose around Dacca tightens
Parachute Troops spearhead the rapid advance to Dacca. Now at 26 miles from City

Dec 15, Eastern Sector: The parachute troops dropped at Tangail are spearheading the Advance to Dacca. The 2nd Battalion, Parchute Regiment which was paradropped on December 11th, resumed thier advance today morning on the Mirzapur-Jaydebpur road. The troops had reached Milestone 26 by today evening.

Lt Col K S Pannu , CO of 2 Para

Lt Col K S Pannu is the commanding officer of this battalion and along with his small force are troops from the 95th Mountain Brigade with whom they had linked up on December 12th.

Mukti Bahini forces from the Siddiqui group have also contacted the Paratroopers and are accompanying the advancing force. This sector is commanded by Maj Gen Nagra.

Troops from the 23rd Divison in the IV Corps area from the South East are also closing in on Dacca. Units from the 301 Brigade have crossed the Meghna River from Daudkandi . The crossing of the Meghna river was undertaken partly by Riverine craft and partly by Mi-4 helicopters.

The troops have now advanced upto Naryanganj which is across the Lakhya River. Some fighting had taken place at Narayanganj which is now firmly in our hands.

From the northeast, two Brigades from 57 Mountain Division which crossed the

Map_Dacca.jpg (27742 bytes)

Meghna through a massive helilift have now advanced down from their firm base in Narsingdi on the road to Rupganj and Murapara. They are also on the eastern bank of the Lakshya river which is the last obstacle to Dacca. With the noose tightening

around Dacca, It is a matter of days before the war here will end. The Pakistani Army commander has a tough choice now. He can either fight it out and delay the inevitable a little more , albiet at the cost of many lives, or decide to surrender and save lives.