Final Assignment: HIS 103 Page |1

NAME: SAZZAD HOSSAIN SAKIB

ID: 162 0920 630

SECTION: 04

QUESTION #03

As directed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Bengali people from all walks of life
led by handful military officers started resisting the Pakistani occupation forces with whatever
they had. Highlight the evolutionary process through which Bangladesh forces got evolved
including the organizations of regular and irregular forces.

Importance of the Topic

As directed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Bengali people from all walks of life
led by handful military officers started resisting the Pakistani occupation forces with whatever
they had. In our liberation war our liberation fighter and leaders form different regular and
irregular forces. The regular forcers are all eleven sectors, the Z-force, the K-force, the S-force
and Navy & Air force. The irregular forces are the Kaderia bahini, Baten bahini, Mujib bahini,
Latif bahini, Afsar bahini, Halim bahini, Hemayet bahini, Akbar bahini, Engineer Abul Hossain
bahini, Kuddus bahini, Gafur bahini. Both the regular and irregular forces were play’s an
important role in our liberation war because of their fearlessness, techniques and dedication
toward freedom for their country gave us freedom in very short nine months long war. Before
our liberation war start, we didn’t have any separate force for the protection of our part. Bangle
army, navy, air force and police officers are work under Pakistani officers as Pakistani force. So,
in 1971 all the bangle officers form the regular force as the force for independent Bangla.
Without both regular and irregular forces, we couldn’t win against one the strongest force in the
world. For both regular and irregular force, we are now an independent nation.
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Narrative of the issue

The Regular forces:

Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors according to the geographical area during the
Liberation War. Each sector had a commander in the sector who was controlling the military
activity. The sectors were further grouped into a sub-sector mix, each being commanded by a
Sub-Sector Commander. Thus, General M A G Osmani was appointed commander-in - chief of
all Bangladesh Forces. Lt. Col Rab was appointed Chief of Bangladesh Army Staff and Deputy
Chief of Armed Forces Group Captain Khandaker. The 10th Sector was put directly under
Commander in Chief, and included the Naval Commandos that were later incorporated into the
Bangladesh Navy. Sector Commanders directed the guerrilla warfare against West Pakistani
forces. Here the introduction of the sectors below:

Sector 1: Nearly ten thousand freedom fighters including two thousand members of the EPR,
police, army, navy and air forces and around eight thousand paramilitary troops fought in this
sector. The sector consisted of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts districts and the entire
eastern district of Noakhali on the banks of the Muhuri River. Major Ziaur Rahman was the
commander of the sector, and later replaced by Major Rafiqul Islam. That sector 's five sub-
sectors were: Rishimukh, Sreenagar, Manughat, Tabalchhari and Dimagiri.

Sector 2: About 35,000 guerrilla fighters including six thousand members of the armed forces
fought in this sector. Sector 2 comprised of the Dhaka, Comilla, Faridpur districts and part of
Noakhali district. Major Khaled Mosharraf was the commander of the sector, and later replaced
by Major ATM Haider. This sector 's six sub-sectors were: Gaugasagar, Akhaura, and Kasba;
Mandabhav: Shalda-nadi; Matinagar; Nirbhoypur; and Rajnagar.

Sector 3: In the last part of the war the number of guerrilla fighters in the sector reached almost
thirty thousand. This sector included the area between Churaman Kathi (near Sreemangal) and
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Sylhet in the north, and Brahmanbaria Singerbil in the south. The commander of the sector was
Major KM Shafiullah who was later replaced by Major ANM Nuruzzaman. Asrambari,
Baghaibari, Hatkata, Simla, Panchabati, Mantala, Bijoynagar, Kalachhora, Kalkalia and Bamutia
were the ten sub-sectors of this sector.

Sector 4: In this field the freedom fighters numbered about nine thousand rebel fighters and
about four thousand active members of the armed forces. This sector comprised the area from
Sylhet District Subdivision Habiganj on the north to Kanaighat Police Station on the south along
the 100-mile-long Indian border. Major Chittarajan Datta was the commander of the sector, and
later replaced by Captain A Rab. This sector 's six sub-sectors were: Jalalpur, Barapunji,
Amlasid, Kukital, Kailas Shahar, Kamalpur.

Sector 5: This Sector comprised the district of Sylhet from Durgapur to Danki (Tamabil), and
the entire area of the district's eastern borders. Commander in the sector was Major Mir Shawkat
Ali. That sector 's six sub-sectors were: Muktapur, Dauki, Shela, Bholajanj, Balat, and
Barachhara.

Sector 6: The number of soldiers in this sector was 700, increasing to about 11,000 in
December. It consisted of district Rangpur and part of district Dinajpur. The head of the sector
was Wing Commander M Khdemul Bashar. The sector 's five sub-sectors were: Bhajanpur,
Patgram, Sahebganj, Mogalhat and Chilahati.

Sector 7: Some 15,000 freedom fighters fought in Sector 7. This sector was made up of the
Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra districts and part of Dinajpur district. Major Nazrul Haq was the
commander of the sector, and later replaced by Subedar Major A Rab and Kazi Nuruzzaman.
The sector 's eight sub-sectors were: Malan, Tapan, Mehdipur, Hamzapur, Anginabad,
Sheikhpara, Thokrabari, Lalgola.
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Sector 8: Approximately 10.000 freedom fighters in the area were fighting. The sector initially
included Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur and Patukhhali Districts, and then the
northern part of Faridpur District included the districts of Kusthia, Jessore, Khulna, Satkhira.
Major Abu Osman Chowdhury, who was later replaced by Major MA Manzur, was the sector's
commander. This sector consisted of seven sub-sectors: Boyra, Hakimpur, Bhomra, Lalbazar,
Banpur, Benapole and Shikarpur.

Sector 9: The Pakistan Military had no base in Barisal before 25 March 1971. This area's
communication system was equally retrograde for which both military access and activities
within this region were limited. Major Mohd Jalil Miah were the commander of this sector. The
headquarter was in Satkhira. This sector did not have any regular troops but had 20,000 freedom
fighters. In this sector 29 officer’s server in different time during the war. This sector was also
divided into three different sub sectors.

Sector 10: This sector did not have any territorial boundary. It comprised all the inland
waterways like the Bay of Bengal. And all the Naval Commandos were basically the combat
elements of this force and this force had no commander in the sector. These specially trained
Naval Commandos were sent in small groups to various sectors to carry out commando
operations against the enemy's naval assets.

Sector 11: This sector was the part of Mymansing, Sherpur, Tangail and Maj Abu Taher were
the commander of this sector. The headquarter was in Mehendraganj, India. This sector had force
about 3000 regular and 17,000 Gono Bahini members. In this sector 19 officer’s server in
different time during the war. This sector was also divided into eight different sub sectors.

Z-Force: Z Force Brigade was Bangladesh Army's 1 st regular infantry brigade. It was born
under the Lt Col Ziaur Rahman & named after his name's first letter. Brigade HQ was situated
opposite Mymenshing, in Tura Hills. Under command units:
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❖ 1 East Bengal.
❖ 2 East Bengal.
❖ 8 East Bengal.
❖ Rowshonara battery.

K-Force: K Force was the 2nd Brigade raised under Lt Col Khaled Mosharraf & named after its
Commander in September 1971. Headquarters of the Brigade in Melaghar, Agartala. This
Brigade served within Sector 2 operational area. This Brigade comprised

❖ 4 East Bengal

❖ 9 East Bengal

❖ 10 East Bengal

❖ 1 Field Battery (Mujib Battery)

❖ K Force Signal Company and Bangladesh Hospital.

S-Force: This Brigade was named after its Comd Lt Col KM Safiullah & first letter operated in
the area of Sector 2. On 1 October 1971, this Brigade was raised in a position named Hejamura,
Tripura, India. This Brigade comprised

❖ 2 East Bengal

❖ 11 East Bengal

❖ S Force Signal Company.

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Navy & Air Force:

During the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war against Pakistan, the Bangladesh Navy was formed
as part of the Bangladesh Forces. The official date of its formation is July 1971 during the 1971
Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference. The Pakistan Navy had about 2,520 Bengali
officers & sailors. After March 25th, Bengali Lt Amzad, Lt Sarwar Nizam and five other
commandos attempted to hijack a Pakistani submarine to Mumbai that was foiled by Pakistanis
and hence Bengali was withdrawn from float assignments. Bengali sailors and officers defected
to form the nascent Bangladesh Navy within the Pakistan Navy. There were initially two ships,
PADMA and PALASH, and 45 Navy personnel. The first naval fleet, consisting of six small
patrol vessels, was inaugurated on 9 November 1971. These ships attempted raids on the
Pakistani fleet, but on 10 December 1971 the Indian Air Force mistakenly hit and sunk them.
The next major assault was launched at seaport Mongla. According to official Bangladesh Navy
figures, the newly created navy involved a total of 334 sailors, with 22 killed in action. During
the war the navy performed about 45 operations: typical naval operations and unconventional
commando operations like guerrilla warfare. Bengali defecting sailors joined the rebel forces in
the first leg of the battle. It was the eight sailors who defected from the under construction in
France under the Pakistan Navy submarine PNS Mangro that pioneered the development of the
naval element during the Liberation War. Many other naval officers subsequently took part. East
Pakistan had been divided into 11 sectors during the Liberation War. With the exception of
sector 10 each sector had a Commander and a demarcated area of responsibility. Sector 10 was
nominally responsible for the coastal belt but in reality, operated throughout the region. Daily
force designation shifted from a strictly land force to an all-service organisation that included
Pakistan Air Force Bengali personnel who had defected and slipped across the border into India.
This included pilots, highly trained technicians and professional staff. These were quickly
incorporated into the movement of liberation-and were responsible for extending the scope of
guerrilla operations to include river-borne raiding, frogmen operations, and finally estuarine
operations against [Link] function of the members of this guerrilla force was to bomb in
large Dhaka city settlements, electricity centres, Sheraton Banks Hotel, and television centres.
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Thus, they raised fear in the hearts of Pakistani soldiers. Thus, they raised fear in the hearts of
Pakistani soldiers. Bangladesh Air Force (BAF, or Bangladesh Biman Bahini, Bangladesh) was
formed on 28 September 1971 at an abandoned Nagaland Dimapur airfield in India (northeast of
Bangladesh). It was officially launched on 8 October 1971 by the Mujibnagar Shorkar. It
originally consisted of three old and malfunctioning aircraft given to it by the Indian
Government-a Dakota (DC-3) aircraft, an Otter aircraft and an Alouette helicopter. India also
supplied all of the aircraft's machine guns, rockets, and fuel. The BAF was established by Air
Commodore A. K. Khandaker, a 1971 Pakistan Air Force group captain who was posted as
second-in-command at East Pakistan headquarters in Dhaka. The Mujibnagar Shorkar appointed
him as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Armed Forces and gave him responsibility for
air force training and operations. The first air fleet of Bangladesh Air Force was established by
around 50 Bangladeshi technicians and airmen - including 10-12 pilots, nine of whom had
defected from Pakistan International Airlines.

Irregular Forces:

When the Government of Bangladesh worked with resources to organize sectors and brigades, a
number of irregular forces came up often in the remote areas and took the names of their leaders
or the regions from which they came. Such small indigenous and non-political forces operated
independently, without much control of Bangladesh's HQ forces, and were known as irregular
forces. The leaders played an important role in their development in terms of background and
courage. There were other dynamics; like so many people, there was no structured enrollment
procedure. India also partly contributed to the formation of those forces in India, as well as
control over the Mukti-Bahini. The geographical state of this group was ideal for use by
indigenous powers. The audacious and well-planned guerrilla operations carried out by these
forces have left the Pakistani soldiers unable to meet their operational targets and have instead
made up the deficits, including their accomplices known as Razakar, al‐Badr and al-Sham. The
Irregular forces are:

Force Name Leaders Areas and members

Kaeria Bahini Abdul Kader Siddique Mymensing, Jamalpur, Tangil
& Sirajganj. 17,000 freedom
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fighters and sub-divided into

5 local sectors.
Baten Bahini Abdul Baten 3,500 active members and
divide into 21 companies.
Southern part of Tangil,
Pabna, Sirajganj, Dhaka and
Gazipur.
Mujib Bahini Create by the help of India 1 lac active freedom fighters.
and Sheikh Fazlul Haue
Moni, Sirajul Alam Khan,
Abdur Razzaque & Tofayel
Ahmed.
Latif Bahini Mirza Abdul Latif 8,000 to 10,000 members and
they operate in Bogra,
Natore, Rajshai, Pabna.
Mainly in the Chalan Bil
areas.
Afsar Bahini Afsar Uddin 4,500 freedom fighters and 5
battalions. Southern part of
Mymensing & some part of
Dhaka, Gazipur.
Halim Bahini Abdul Halim Chowdhury Outside of Manikganj,
Mushiganj.
Hemayet Bahini Hemayet Uddin 5,000 members including 45
female members. Active in
Gopalganj, Barisal, Faridpur
and Madaripur.
Akbar Bahini Akbar Hossain Miah Coordinated with sector 8 and
800 freedom fighters.
Engineer Abul Hossain Abul Hossain Coordinate with sector 11.
Bahini
Kuddus Bahini Abdul Kuddus Mhendiganj, Muladi, Hizal
and other parts of Barisal.
Work with Taki sub-sector.
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Gafar Bahini Gafur- a teacher turned Merged with Taki sub-sector

fighter and sector-09.

Learning Outcome

During the war, both regular and irregular worked together to free their countries from the
occupying forces. While the regular forces were to conduct most military operations, the leaders
and other freedom fighters tried to motivate the people to support and participate in the war of
liberation. In order to coordinate the activities of the regular members of the army and other civil
groups, each military command had a political wing, which resulted in an evolution of a unique
pattern of civil-military relations during the war.

******* THANK YOU ********

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