For the time being, however India refrained from mounting an all out offensive. Instead, New Delhi's tactics seemed designed to tic down large numbers of Pakistani troops with a series of quick, limited strikes and thereby pave the way for the Bengali guerillas to seize control of more territory. To that end, the Indians reportedly thrust into the districts of Sylhet. Comilla and the Chittagong Hills along the eastern border. as well as pushing in from the west towards Jessore. Lying in the midst of a rich agricultural plain, Jessore is regarded as a key city in the rebels plan to take over East Pakistan, India's offensive seemed to be aimed at speeding up that timetable. With the area around the city in Indian and Mukli Bahini hands, NEWSWEEK'S Tony Clifton flew into Jessore on a Pakistani Air Force planc and cabled this report:
It is obvious that the Indians are using regular troops, tanks and heavy guns to make incursions into Pakistan's territory. In fact, when 1 flew into Jessore. Indian soldiers still held a salient of land west of Jessore and had the city's airport under sporadic fire. I was quickly hustled off to the Pakistani headquarters where Maj Gen. M H. Ansari. the Sector commander, described the Indian attack: “They came in strength, two brigades supported by a tank regiment and artillery fire from 130-mm. Russian guns. They pushed in about 6 miles. That was too much, so we counterattacked and pushed them back almost to the border.” When I asked if the attackers could have been Bengali guerrillas, Ansari scoffed. “These weren't rebels. They were using tanks and heavy guns and the rebels haven't got that sort of weaponry. Those things don't grow on trees.” He paused and added, somewhat wistfully. “Although I wish they did because then we'd get some too."
A Thankless Task
Ansari claimed that his forces had killed some 200 to 300 enemy soldiers and added: “We captured uniforms and papers which showed they were regular radian troops. They came from the Fourteenth Punjab Regiment.” While refusing to say how many of his own men had been killed, he admitted that casualties were substantial: “They weren't throwing rose petals at us, you know". Even though Ansari said that he had driven the Indians back toward the border, no Pakistani official denies that the arca surrounding Jessore is effectively in enemy hands. And wresting any part of East Pakistan back from a guerrilla force will be a thankless task for the army. Although the monsoons have ended, vast areas of land are still covered with water, and literally hundreds of rivers and streams crisscross the terrain. The few roads that do exist are puny tracks, all highly vulnerable to guerrilla attack.
An equal threat to the government exists on the opposite side of East Pakistan in the Comilla district. I flew into a Pakistani headquarters near the town of Brahmanbria where army officers charged that Indian troops had mounted a major battle. The Pakistani commander led me to a railroad truck piled high with dead bodies and showed off the weapons he had captured. While there was no way for me to tell whether the decomposing bodies were those of Bengali guerrillas or Indian regulars, the rifles, automatic weapons and light machine guns were undeniably of those types used by the Indian Army. The brigadier had no doubts that his enemies were Indians and he was almost gleeful when he described the battle. “We killed between 300 and 400 men, with
