Dacca, East Pakistan, Nov. 22. India has launched an all-out offensive against East Pakistan without a formal declaration of war, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported tonight. The agency said the offensive had been preceded by a build-up of 12 Indian infantry divisions all around East Pakistan and by months of pinprick attacks, as well as minor and major skirmishes. The agency said the Indian Army had concentrated all its might in the Jessore sector. The attack was launched in that area by nine Indian infantry divisions, four mountain divisions and two tank regiments.

Fierce fighting occurred in Jessore throughout the night and early hours of this morning, it said. The attack in the Jessore sector had been checked by the Pakistan Army but fighting continued, the news agency reported. It said Indian Gnats and MiG fighters took part in the action and strafed three villages, killing 79 civilians and injuring 130. The attack was checked, the agency said, when Pakistani troops damaged 18 Indian tanks. Fearing that they might lose more, the Indians had stopped their onslaught. According to preliminary reports, the Indians lost 130 killed, the agency said, while Pakistani casualties were seven killed and 40 wounded. (Reuters)

Rawalpindi, Nov. 22. A Pakistan radio broadcast tonight admitted that India’s forces were making “dents” in Pakistan territory. Besides reporting fighting in the Jessore area, the radio claimed that the Indians were attacking on the eastern border with Tripura at Sylhet and in Chittagong hill tracts to the south. The broadcast reported that President Yahya Khan had visited troops today near the West Pakistan border with India and Kashmir and said Pakistan would “crush the aggressor.”

The radio said the Eighth Indian Mountain Division supported by tanks had launched an attack at Sylhet. The Pakistanis had killed 58 of the attackers and lost 11 men. Two Indian brigades also launched attacks east and north of the port of Chittagong. The radio said: “It is expected that the Indian Army will open up more fronts in the next 24 hours.” (AP)