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Indo-Pakistani
relations deteriorated when civil war erupted in
Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East
Pakistanis demanding greater autonomy. The fighting
forced 10 million East Pakistani Bengalis to flee to
India. When Pakistan attacked Indian airfields in
Kashmir, India attacked both East and West Pakistan. It
occupied the eastern half, which declared its
independence as Bangladesh, on Dec. 6, 1971. Under
great-power pressure, a UN cease-fire was arranged in
mid-December, after Pakistan's defeat. Pakistan lost its
eastern half, an army of 100,000 soldiers, and was
thrown into political turmoil. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
emerged as leader of Pakistan, and Mujibur Rahman as
prime minister of Bangladesh. Tensions were alleviated
by the Shimla accord of 1972, and by Pakistan's
recognition of Bangladesh in 1974, but tensions have
periodically recurred.
Encyclopedia.com,
2002
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Military
losses in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war |
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India
According
to official Indian government figures, the country has
sustained the following losses in the 1971 war with
Pakistan:
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Bengali
front (Eastern Pakistan, now Bangladesh) - 1047
killed, 3047 wounded, 89 MIA
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Western
front (today's Indo-Pakistani border) - 1426 killed,
3611 wounded, 2149 MIA
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India
has acknowledged the loss of 73 tanks and 45
aircraft of the Indian Air Force
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The
Indian Navy has lost the "Kukri" frigate
with 211 people, sunk on Dec. 9 1971 by the Pakistan
"Hangor" submarine, and the Alize-type ASW
plane was shot down on the same say by a Pakistani
F-104 with the loss of one person. Total combat
personnel losses for the Indian Navy were 212
people.
Pakistan
claimed that India lost no fewer that 30,000 troops, 246
and 141 aircraft (104 definitely shot down, 15 probably
shot down, and 22 possibly shot down). However,
Pakistan's claims are widely regarded as extremely
inflated, especially in the count of the supposed Indian
military personnel losses.
The
number of losses among the "Mukti-Bahini"
rebels of Bangladesh - who started this conflict and
fought against Pakistan - is not known.
Pakistan
Officially
Pakistan admits to the following losses among its
military forces:
-
Bengali
front (Eastern Pakistan, now Bangladesh) - 1293 KIA,
2539 wounded in combat, 35 MIA, 340 MIA probably
dead, and 18 MIA probably POWs. This information
cannot be further from the truth as it is a fact
that the entire 100,000 Pakistani army on the
Bengali front, consisting primarily of the 9th, the
14th, and the 36th infantry divisions, was completed
destroyed. About 90,000 Pakistani servicemen became
POWs, including 74,000 soldiers of the regular army
and 16,000 members of various government
paramilitary forces. According to Indian figures,
several thousand Pakistani soldiers have died during
their withdrawal along the river banks and the
Bengali coast to Dakka, where the Pakistani army
capitulated on Dec. 16, 1971.
-
Western
front (today's Indo-Pakistani border) - 1405 KIA,
3078 wounded in action, 126 MIA, 134 MIA probably
killed and 215 MIA probably captured. These numbers
are also lower than the actual losses of the
Pakistani army. It known that just the number of
Pakistani POWs on the Western front was around
3,000.
-
Pakistan
has admitted to losing only 19 combat planes. This
is known to be a lie. On the Bengali front alone
Pakistan lost an entire fighter squadron consisting
of 18 F-86 fighter jets. India's claim of Pakistani
losses is 246 tanks and 94 aircraft.
-
The
Pakistani Navy has lost:
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"Gazi"
submarine - sank by one of its own mines on Dec.
3 1971. It is believed that the explosion was a
result of a depth charge attack against
"Gazi" by the "Rajput"
destroyer of the Indian Navy. The attack took
place 1.5 hours before the explosion aboard
"Gazi" and might have been responsible
for damaging one of the mines aboard the
submarine.
-
Destroyer
"Hajber" and the anti-mine boat
"Muhafiz" - both sank near Karachi on
Dec. 5, 1971.
-
Three
coast guard boats of the "Radzhahi"
class - both sank in ports of Eastern Pakistan.
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18
transport ships and a great number of smaller
river boats were sank in Easter Pakistan. Only
in Dakka Indian forces have sank 16 and captured
10 river vessels.
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The
"Mangro" submarine and the
"Dakka" refuelling tanker were
damaged.
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The
total number of personnel losses came to about
1900 (some might have deserted) and 1413
servicemen were captured by Indian forces in
Dakka.
-
Some
16 foreign vessels were destroyed and 7 more
damaged by Indian forces in Pakistani ports.
Venik
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