FRONTIER FIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 132, 1 December 1936, Page 9

FRONTIER FIGHT

TROOPS' GALLANT ADVANCE

INCIDENT IN INDIA

NEW DELHI, November 29. Government communiques describe how British and Indian troops, including a battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment, fought their way for three days through hostile tribesmen during the demonstration march on November 26. Tribesmen, lying concealed in caves and scrub, harried the troops incessantly. Young tribesmen, however, showed themselves freely and were successfully engaged on several occasions, when they suffered considerably. The courage of the enemy in such country made the task of the troops difficult and casualties inevitable. The troops continued to advance with gallantry and determination, and eventually marched to Mirali. The enemy's activities, culminating in attacks on the rearguard, were held off by Air Force bombing, artillery, and machineguns.

A cable dated November 26 stated that tribesmen ambushed a British column which was sent to Waziristan, m the North-West Frontier Province, in consequence of tribal disaffection. Two British officers, one British private, and 17 Indian soldiers were killed, and 88 soldiers, including nine British, were wounded. The column, which had proceeded from Razmak, was ambushed in the Khaisora Valley. Its mission was to strengthen the pro-Government party and expel a firebrand fakir. No punitive measures were intended. Supporters of the Government appealed to the tribe to expel the fakir or to end his activities, and the tribe replied that it was unable to control the fakir. Thereupon two columns left Miraii Damdil to march through the disaffected area with the sole purpose of stiffening the tribal attitude against the fakir. The column, however, unex-1 pectedly encountered stubborn opposition by large numbers of tribesmen, and heavy fighting ensued.