KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov. 22 —Pakistan charged tonight that India had launched an all‐out military offensive without declaration of war.
The Pakistan radio reported heavy fighting all along East Pakistan's borders during the last 24 hours and said that Indian forces had “made some dents in our territory.”
The broadcast said that about 100 Indians had been killed and at least 350 wounded. It said that the Indians had recovered most of their dead and wounded. The broadcast put the Pakistani death toll at 18.
War Not Declared
It was impossible here to assess the actual scale of fighting in East Pakistan or to gauge the likelihood of all‐out war. Pakistan has not declared war, and life in the West Pakistan cities remains normal.
[Pakistan charged that a dozen Indian Army divisions, with air and armored support, were involved, The Associated Press reported. However, in Rawalpindi, high Pakistani sources who refused to be identified were quoted as having said that the fighting did not appear to be as widespread as the radio broadcasts had indicated.]
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The Pakistan radio said the attacks were concentrated in Jessore District while other thrusts reportedly were made in Sylhet, Comilla and Chittagong Districts and in the Chittagong Hills near the Burmese border.
The assaults were said to have involved two Indian infantry brigades and two tank regiments at Jessore alone. The tanks were said to have withdrawn after 18 had been damaged. Pakistan also accused India of having deployed her air force in the Jessore attack.
The Pakistanis said that MIG and Gnat fighters were used to strafe three border villages in Jessore District. They reported 79 civilians killed and 130 wounded.
During the day, Pakistan's President, Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, reportedly visited frontline positions at Sialkot in West Pakistan. No fighting has been reported there to date.
According to the Pakistan radio, President Yahya Khan told his troops, “Pakistan wants peace, but if a war is thrust upon us, our valiant armed forces will defend every inch of our territory.”
India has maintained heavy pressure on East Pakistan's frontiers during the last month, according to the Pakistan radio, with nearly continuous shelling in some sectors.
The Pakistan radio said that the Indians fired a record 5,000 shells into East Pakistan yesterday.
Concentration on Border
The Indian pressure on the borders is seen as a means of keeping as many as possible of Pakistan's 70,000 regular troops stationed in East Pakistan along the border. In this way, Bengali guerrillas in the interior are given a relatively tree hand.
Terrorist bomb attacks and assassinations are reported being concentrated in Dacca and other major towns in East Pakistan.
Pakistani observers presume that India's strategy calls for “liberating” at least part of East Pakistan, where a rebel government could take hold. That would be followed by quick Indian recognition of the rebels as the legitimate government of all East Pakistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly warned that any such development would lead to immediate all‐out war against India.