On 25 March 1971, the Pakistan Army launched military operations under Operation Searchlight against the population of East Pakistan. Dhaka bore the brunt of the army's atrocities, witnessing a genocide and a campaign of wide scale repression, with the arrest, torture and murder of the city's civilians, students, intelligentsia, political activists and religious minorities. The army faced mutinies from the East Pakistan Rifles and the Bengali police. Large parts of the city were burnt and destroyed, including Hindu neighborhoods. Much of the city's population was either displaced or forced to flee to the countryside. In the ensuing Bangladesh War of Independence, the Bangladesh Forces launched regular guerrilla attacks and ambush operations against Pakistani forces. Dhaka was struck with numerous air raids by the Indian Air Force in December. Dhaka witnessed the surrender of the west Pakistan forces in front of the Bangladesh-India Allied Forces on 16 December 1971 with the surrender of Pakistan.