ASSAM FRONT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 17 April 1944, Page 2

ASSAM FRONT

ENCOURAGING NEWS

IMFHAL FLAIN HELD BY ALLIES IMPORTANT HILL FEATURE CAPTURED (Rec. 10.0 a.m.) London. April 16. Encouraging news conies from the Manipur front, Assam, .just west of the northern Burma border. The lmphal Plain, according lo an agency correspondent quoting Admiral Mountbatten's communique, is entirely in Allied hands. Fighting has continued to the neighbouring hills where offensive operations against the enemy continue. Northeast of lmphal. Allied troops captured an important hill feature, possession of which had been strongly contested in the past few days. Enemy attacks on Thursday night on Kohima from both east and west were repulsed. The operation to clear the Kohima-Dimapur road is progressing satisfactorily. GENERAL STILWELL’S ADVANCE London, April 16. Many Japanese hanged themselves or cut their throats in their foxholes after failing in literally a suicidal effort to halt the advance of General Stilwell’s Chinese and American army in the upper Mogaung Valley, northern Burma, reports Reuter’s correspondent in a frontline dispatch. General Stilwell is making steady though slow progress. Japanese casualties with the clearing of the Waknag district now total over 5500. Including several flanking forces in the north the Allies are operating on elastic lines stretching nearly 75 miles, with the Chinese about 100 miles from the old Burma road and the Chinese frontier. NEW JAPANESE OFFENSIVE BELIEF IN CHINA Chungking, April 15. Considerable Japanese troop movements towards Hankow strengthen the belief in Chinese quarters that the enemy is planning a new offensive against China, probably intended to coincide with the projected severance of the Sino-Indian supply route.