JINJARA, Pakistan, Nov. 30 —Soldiers and militiamen under army orders have stepped up a campaign of shooting villagers and burning their houses in retaliation for increased guerrilla activity in the region around Dacca.

Residents of this East Pakistani village, just across the Burhi Ganga River from Dacca, say that anywhere from 22 to 87 persons were killed, most of them young men but some women and children, in a sweep by regular soldiers, police and militiamen that began Friday at dusk.

Young men suspected of being guerrillas were routed from their houses, lined up and shot, according to the villagers here. Sixty to 150 houses were burned, they said. A Dacca newspaper reported that 32 persons from the area — called Keraniganj—had been admitted, to Mitford Hospital in Dacca with gunshot wounds.

Several exchanges of gunfire with guerrillas were reported as the troops, engaged in what they called a “pacification drive,” moved from village to village on the south bank of the river.

Shooting and burning were reported in two villages, Kagai and Kalamura, yesterday. They are about seven miles northwest of Dacca, the provincial capital.

Commanders Justified their troops' actions on the ground that villagers were harboring guerrillas. The guerrillas' resistance was seen by some observers as a sign of their growing confidence in the area.

There are rumors in Dacca that the guerrillas are building up in the area for an uprising there.

A military operation officer acknowledged last week that the guerrillas had stepped up their activity in the area. Then hinting of the pacification campaign he added: “Wait a few days.”

While a reporter was ordered away from a section of burned out houses by a local policeman, top‐ranking commanders have not been as sensitive as in the past about reports of the activities of their men. One top commander gave a television news team permission to film the burned areas and interview residents, saying that reports of both good and bad actions would add credibility to reports from the Pakistani side.

Several villages in an area about 10 miles north of Dacca have been set ablaze and residents shot down in the last four days, according to reports by church and relief workers. An American Catholic priest, identified as the Rev. Charles R. Houser, was reported critically wounded and several Bengali nuns were reported killed in an attack on a missionary outpost at the Rangamatia mission.

Workers in Dacca have for two days failed to reach the scene because of heavy sniping and shooting by guerrillas and militiamen. A priest set out by auto this morning in another attempt to reach Father Houser's mission.

Some regular Pakistani Army soldiers are involved in the “pacification campaign,” but most of the regulars are deployed in border units against Indian troops.

Teen‐agers Are Involved

This leaves security mainly in the hands of 5,000 West Pakistani police, 55,000 locally recruited teen‐agers who have received a week's training, and 10,000 former West Pakistani soldiers formed into a group called the East Pakistan Civil Armed Force. This last group was formed to replace the East Pakistan Rifles because most members of this force defected to the guerrillas in April.

The Civil Armed Force, led by a few regular soldiers and policemen, is believed to be the main element in the pacification drive, but villagers do not distinguish among groups, referring to them all as “military men.”

Because they are untrained in antiguerrilla warfare, these irregulars have followed the tactics of moving into villages near where guerrillas of the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Force) have been active, declaring a curfew, rounding up the young men and shooting them. Others moving out during the curfew have also been reported shot. Houses where suspects are found are burned.

The guerrillas have become increasingly active in and around Dacca in the last three weeks. The military command estimates that about 2,000 guerrillas have infiltrated into the region after having received training and some arms from India.

The guerrillas, with some submachine guns and light mortars, are now believed to be better armed in many regions than the local security forces, which are equipped with only World War I rifles. Both sides, however, are believed to have little ammunition.

Intelligence sources now estimate that more than 80,000 guerrillas have been trained since last April in 80 camps inside India. Some of these are believed to have been formed into regular combat units, which are being tested alongside Indian troops now probing across the border. Others have been sent back to their home areas in East Pakistan to build and lead guerrilla units.

The guerrillas claim to control one‐third to one‐half of East Pakistan, but the army says it can move against them at will. The problem for the army is that many areas of the countryside are accessible only by boat and on foot, and troops have not moved into these areas for weeks or months. This has allowed the guerrillas time to organize and move out against main water and land routes and against militia and police posts near villages north of Dacca.

The guerrillas have been stepping up sniping attacks and bombings against local security police and harassing the rail line that runs from Dacca to Mymensingh. They are reported to be operating freely in most villages.

Until their pacification drive policemen and militiamen were in defensive positions, guarding police posts and food supplies but not venturing out into other villages or the countryside. In Jinjara and other villages along the south bank of the Burhi Ganga River the guerrillas were virtually in control, regularly harassing riverboat traffic and security patrols.