Battle of Hilli
| Battle of Hilli | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 | |||||||||
Major Niazi of 31 Punjab regiment surrendering to Lt Col V.R. Swaminathan of 22 Maratha Light infantry after the battle of Hilli/Bogra on 16 December 1971 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
India (22 November –18 December 1971) | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Maj. Gen. Lachhman Singh Lehl Brigadier Farhad Batti Lt. Col. Shamsher Singh Major Kazi Nuruzzaman Maj. Hemant Manjrekar † Maj. K. K. Rao † |
Brig. Gen. Tajammul Hussain Malik (POW) Brig. Gen. Mumtaz Malik | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
First Battle, 23–24 November
Second Battle, 10–11 December
|
First and Second Battles
| ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Total |
Total | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
First Battle 196 killed/wounded Second Battle 20 killed/wounded |
First Battle ~80 killed/wounded Second Battle 20 killed 3 POW 2 M24 Chaffees destroyed 3 105mm howitzers destroyed | ||||||||
The Battle of Hilli were two major battles fought from 22 to 24 November and again from 10 to 11 December 1971. They are generally regarded as the bloodiest battles of the eastern front of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The first battle saw, according to veterans of the battle, the fiercest fighting of the war, but the second was much tamer.
The Indian objective was to capture a network of Pakistani fortifications centred around the village of Hilli to allow for an advance on the town of Bogra.