AGARTALA, India, Nov. 11 —Along the 500‐mile frontier of Tripura, a pear‐shaped Indian territory that juts into East Pakistan, Indian troops are actively involved in sporadic but intense battles with Pakistani forces.

At least twice in recent days Indian troops were drawn into direct fighting with Pakistani troops as an outgrowth of the activities of the Mukti Bahini, the Bengali guerrilla army that is fighting for secession in East Pakistan. The movement has the sympathy and support of the Indian Government.

[In Washington, the United States urged India and Pakistan to avoid an all‐out war. Dispatch on Page 5.1

Pakistani soldiers have also been crossing into India, according to Indian military sources. Wearing civilian clothes, the sources say, the troops have been mining border roads and slipping into refugee camps to kill suspected guerrillas.

Two days ago Indian and guerrilla forces, in a pincer move, drove Pakistani troops out of a 40‐square‐mile wedge of East Pakistan alongside Belonia, an Indian border town of 5,000 people 60 miles south of here.

After this battle the Indians quickly withdrew to their own territory. Casualties on both sides were reported to be very heavy. The Indians reportedly seized a large number of Pakistani arms and vehicles of both American and Chinese make. An Indian military source said that Pakistani jets strafed the area the next day, but with little effect.

Eleven days ago, in another major operation at Kamalpur, a border town about 40 miles northeast of here, a company of Indian troops went 500 yards into East Pakistan and seized Pakistani vehicles, light and heavy machine guns and ammunition.

Intense Shelling by Pakistanis

That action, which led to a 14‐hour battle, followed nearly two weeks of intense Pakistani shelling of Kamalpur, which has a population of 12,000, most of whom have fled. The back about three miles and have resumed the shelling, though on a smaller scale, the Indian source said.

In this operation, too, the guerrillas have occupied a 12‐square‐mile area. The Pakistanis are said to have lost 70, men and the Indians 80 in the Kamalpur battle. The Indian'. troops reportedly charged into a heavy hail of fire in an area that was mined.

Guerrilla sources here said that they had also seized control of two other bits of East Pakistani territory — a five‐square‐mile area at Saida Nadi in northern Tripura and a 16‐sqaure‐mile area that includes the town of Kasba, about 10 miles southwest of Agartala.

In three weeks of fighting Kasba has changed hands five times. In the last engagement, a key guerrilla leader, Maj. Khaled Musharoff, was severely wounded.

‘Troops Kept on a Leash’

Indian troops do not always participate “our troops are kept on a leash,” said an Indian military source, “but I do not know how long this restraint can be kept in the face of so many provocations.”

While the well‐entrenched Indian Army is under strict instructions not to cross the border except as an extreme step, exceptions seem to have become the rule.

Officials in New Delhi repeatedly deny that Indian troops have crossed into East Pakistan. But the Pakistani radio, in describing the Belonia battle, said that three Indian battalions attacked with tanks and artillery.

An Indian spokesman said today: “Pakistani propaganda for a long time has been talking about the Mukti Bahini as ‘Indian agents.’ Now they have gone one step further and are talking about Indian battalions.”

Guerrillas Step Up Attacks

The guerrillas have intensified their operations since the monsoon ended last month. Pakistani forces, all from West Pakistan, have been harassed on all sides. Since the guerrillas have a free run of Indian border areas, the Pakistanis have resorted to heavy shelling there. Indian officials say that the shells sometimes fall on civilian areas.

“They are behaving like an infuriated animal which is totally blind,” said an official here. “For over three months they have been firing volley after volley of shells and mortar, many of them wild.”

The official said 200 civilians had been killed and thousands wounded. He said more than half the casualties were East Pakistani refugees housed in camps along the border.

The main hospital in Agartala, is overflowing with civilian casualties. On the average, 10 to 15 amputation cases are brought in every day.

Life in Agartala is growing increasingly difficult. With the area crowded with troops and refugees, essential commodities, especially food, are becoming scarce. Fish, a staple of the population here, is selling at three times what it cost six months ago. Eggs, butter, sugar and even salt are short. All these have to be airlifted or brought by rail from distant Calcutta over a 1,500‐mile route that bypasses East Pakistan.