Aziz organized strong defense on Sherpur-Shadipur line having a screen position on the far bank. He appreciated that the enemy, being strong, would chase him now. On April 23 an enemy aircraft flew over his area several times and after being sure about the target, began strafing and rocketing. This was followed by long range artillery fire on his position. The screen position was contacted by the enemy infantry on April 26. With heavy casualties the screen fell back but the enemy could not dislodge Aziz from the main defense.
In this action Havildar Muslemuddin and Lance Naik Abdur Rahman died and five were injured. The enemy also sustained heavy casualties, both in dead and injured. This debacle was first of its kind. We lost a vast tract of the liberated area in Sylhet. This was a major setback. In retrospect, while analyzing this action, I could not blame my men. They were inferior both in strength and in weapons to the enemy. We were too scattered to give a fight in an organized manner. Three-fourth of our troops was not trained to fight conventional set piece battle. We could master very little support from the locals to execute the plan. Lastly. The field commanders on our side lacked experience in the use of ground and weapons.
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