Operation Searchlight

Operation Searchlight was a planned military operation by the Pakistani Army to stop the Bengali nationalist movement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in March 1971.^[1] It was ordered by the government in West Pakistan and was seen as the sequel to Operation Blitz, which had been launched in November 1970.

The Pakistani Army was endorsed and supported by the US under Nixon Administration and the Bengalis by by India and the USSR. The US objective was to curb Soviet influence in South Asia and win Pakistan as an ally.

Pakistan lost the war, resulting in the Independence of Bangladesh. All US objectives were failed.

Operation Searchlight Media

Operation Searchlight: The location of Pakistani and Bengali units on 25 March 1971. Some unit locations are not shown.
Operation Searchlight: The location of Pakistani targets in Dhaka on 25 March 1971. Map is not to exact scale.
Operation Searchlight: The location of Pakistani targets in Chittagong on 25 March 1971. Map is not to exact scale.
Operation Searchlight: Pakistan army operation 10 April – 19 June. Not to exact scale and some troop movements/location are indicative only.

References

↑ Sarmila Bose (8 October 2005). "Military Action: Operation Searchlight". Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971. Economic and Political Weekly, Special Articles. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007.

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[1] Sarmila Bose (8 October 2005). "Military Action: Operation Searchlight". Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971. Economic and Political Weekly, Special Articles. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007.

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