Bangladesh Military Academy Military History Battle of Kamalpur
Bangladesh Military Academy Military History Battle of Kamalpur
Bangladesh Military Academy Military History Battle of Kamalpur
BATTLE OF KAMALPUR
References:
2. Aim. To study the battle of kamalpur with a view to utilize the lessons learnt
in future.
3. Enabling Objectives.
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Mymensing. Lieutenant Colonel Zia was the first commander of Z force and it consisted of
1, 3, and 8 East Bengal with an artillery battery. Though the Mukti Bahini was carrying out
thousands of minor operation till then no decisive victory could be achieved by the then
liberation force, especially in conventional war. To raise the moral of the fighting troops and
keep the momentum on, it was required to achieve a victory in conventional war.
5. ORBAT. The enemy had one company soldiers of 31 Beluch and one company
of Razakars to hold the strong point. Own forces had 3x companies with a field battery to
launch the attack. The details of own forces are as under:
b. A Company. It was led by Captain Mahboob and acted as cut off party
at Uthanipara.
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6. The Battle.
b. The Progress of the Battle. H hour was fixed at 0330, artillery fire
support was kept on call as well as on timed programme. It so happened that the
main assaulting force could not reach FUP in time due to poor guidance system. The
move was unusually delayed. The wireless communications got jammed and the
artillery fire support could not be adjusted as per the situation. Rather, before the
troops reached the FUP, own artillery elements started bombarding as per their
timed programmed given earlier. At this, the attacking troops got bewildered and
disorganized. It became extremely difficult to keep command and control which was
the crucial need of that moment. The offensive speed was to be maintained at any
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cost. Hence, came the persuasive call from the accompanying Force commander
Lieutenant Colonel Zia and the battalion commander Major Moin pressed the troops
hard to form up and get on going for the assault. At this the two commanders
Captain Salahuddin and Lieutenant Hafiz somehow managed to form up the SL. But
no sooner had they started off for assault then the enemy artillery fire started pouring
on them. The troops hit the ground. It became really difficult for Captain Salahuddin
now to raise them from the ground and got them going ahead. But he was a
determined soul. He used violent means like kicking, using rough word etc, to get
them up from the ground. Inspite of knowing the fact that his own position would
be revealed to the enemy. It worked and the troops gained their courage and made
an assault on the enemy. They crossed the first line of the enemy’s defence and
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about 20 to 25 of them got inside a community center nearby. There, after in a hand-
to-hand fight only two could come out safely. Others embraced martyrdom. In the
meantime, Subedar Hai who had a platoon of 40, lost about 20 to 25 in the fight. The
enemy under the pressure of the attacking force got back from their first line of
defence and concentrated on their second line to launch a counter attack. Colonel
Zia who was observing the whole situation from the close vicinity shouted “I will
accept 95% casualty, but press them out, Moin“. By now Subedar Hai got struck up
in the minefield. Naik Shafi lost his hand by the stroke of a mine. Bullets of the
enemy came like shower of rain all around. Naik Shafi requested Captain Salahuddin
to take up position on the ground. But it was not for the brave Captain to listen. He
used the megaphone and asked Subeder Hai to go towards the right. His position
was revealed. Suddenly 2/3 artillery shells landed up right in front of him and he
instantaneously embraced martyrdom. While dying, he had been still wearing the
white shirt which he was supposed to put off during night. Attempts were made to
recover his dead body, but only his sten, wristwatch and white shirt could be brought
back. Captain Hafiz saved himself miraculously even though his sten was blown
away by the splinter of an artillery shell. Lieutenant Mannan got injured by receiving
a bullet in his thighs. When he was assisting Major Moin was giving orders from
behind a tree. After the death of Captain Salahuddin, the attack was organized in
small groups, but visualizing impossibility of success, final withdrawal order was
issued at 0720 hours on 01 August 1971. After this, Kamalpur was attacked about 21
times and finally on 04 December 1971, it was liberated. In the battle of Kamalpur,
Pakistan Army came out as the victor. They could withstand the onslaught of the
attacking force and defeated them through a successful counter attack. They
however, incurred quite a huge number of casualties exact figure of which was not
ascertained. Local sources claimed that they saw dead bodies being carried by 3 x 3
ton trucks. Some other source says that it was 50. The battle served to be an eye
opener for Pakistan Army about the brave capabilities of the Mukti Bahini. A sense of
fear was aroused in their mind and they became extra cautious and went on
suffering from kamalpur phobia. Own forces lost one officer and thirty other ranks.
Sixty persons including two officers were injured, though they accepted defeat, they
fought quite valiantly like real tigers. Pakistan Army was made to realize that the
Bangalees fight not only from a distance but they also have the guts to go closer to
the bunkers to drive the enemy out as well.
7. Causes of Defeat. The defeat of Mukti Bahini was due to number of causes.
These are:
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c. Poor Guidance System. Due to the lack of proper guidance system the
assaulting troops could not maintain direction and hence, failed to reach FUP in time.
e. Inferior Strength. In this attack, the normal ratio between the attacker and
the defender, 3:1 was not maintained. As it has been shown previously in the relative
strength, it was only 3: 2 and hence, the utter defeat in the offensive took place.
8. Lessons Learnt. From the battle of Kamalpur, following lessons come out clearly:
9. Conclusion. At the end, it can be said that even though Mukti Bahini was
defeated in their first major offensive at kamalpur, it was a glorious defeat. Lessons brought
out from this battle had a positive influence on the subsequent operations of the Mukti
Bahini. Hence, it can be said that if Mukti Bahini cannot be given the award of a winner,
they certainly deserve the awards of the best looser, Personal example of leadership and
self sacrifice of the martyr will remain as source of inspiration and guidance to the future
generation of Bangladesh.
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