Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||||||
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Clockwise from top left: Martyred Intellectuals Memorial, Bangladesh Forces howitzer, Surrender of Pakistan to Indian Armed Forces, the sunken PNS Ghazi |
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Belligerents | |||||||||
India (3-16 December, 1971) |
Paramilitary forces: |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tajuddin Ahmad Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani Kazi Mohammad Shafiullah Ziaur Rahman Khaled Mosharraf Sam Manekshaw Jagjit Singh Aurora Jacob Farj Rafael Jacob |
Yahya Khan Nurul Amin Abdul Motaleb Malik Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi Rao Farman Ali Mohd Jamshed Tikka Khan Mohammad Shariff Leslie Mungavin Patrick Desmond Callaghan Ghulam Azam (East Pakistan Central Peace Committee) Motiur Rahman Nizami (Al-Badr) |
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Strength | |||||||||
175,000 250,000 |
~365,000 regular troops (90,000+ in East Pakistan) ~25,000 militiamen |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||||
~30,000 killed 1,426–1,525 killed 3,611–4,061 wounded |
~8,000 killed ~10,000 wounded ~93,000 captured (including 56,694 troops and 12,192 local militiamen) |
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Civilian death: Estimates range between 300,000 and 3 million. |
Bangladeshi and Indian victory
India (3-16 December, 1971)
Paramilitary forces:
The Bangladesh Liberation War (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ Muktijuddho), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan and the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. It resulted in the independence of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The war began after the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971. It pursued the systematic elimination of nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel. The junta annulled the results of the 1970 elections and arrested Prime Minister-elect Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.