Troops from West Pakistan continue to pour in by air to step up operations against areas of the country still held by the secessionists.
About 10,000 are believed to have arrived since President Yahya Khan's attempt to keep his country intact. It brings their strength to an estimated 35.000. Previous reports that there were some 70,000. West Pakistani troops in the province are regarded as exaggerated.
Street sellers are doing a roaring trade in Pakistani national flags, the symbol here of surrender. “No one speaks above a whisper of Bangladesh. We have put up Pakistani flag only for fear of the gun'; said our Bengali farmer “Bir Bangladesh is still in our hearts."
A. P. Michael Hornsby writes:
Pakistan Army units continued to press hard today on towns along the western border of East Bengal still under the tenuous control of the “Bangladesh" independence movement. It seems only a matter of days before the Army establishes itself in this region, thus gaining sway over all the main urban centers in East Pakistan.
Air raids and artillery bombardment were reported by Indian intelligence today on both Dinajpur, in the north, and Kushtia, further south. The towns of Rajshahi and Pabna were also under pressure from the Army. The only regular troops the resistance forces have in these areas are small and poorly equipped contingents of the East Pakistan Rifles and the Bengal Regiment.
Pakistan Army units moving west from Jessore are reported to be within a mile or so of the Indian border. Several thousand refugees have come across the border in the past week.
The Pakistan army appear to have no immediate logistics problem, even though operating more than 1,000 miles from home. Supplies and reinforcement are being flown into Dacca and Jessore as well as the eastern towns of Sylhet and Comilla. The army also has control of the key, waterways.
