The victory of Awami League in the 1970 elections was followed by a period of political uncertainty as General Yahia Khan delayed the transfer of power to Awami league. This eventually led to Awami League launching a non cooperation movement that eventually confined the authority of the Central government to the cantonments and government institutions in East Pakistan. Pakistani government decided to launch a military crackdown and began to move soldiers in civilian clothes to Dhaka using PIA and PAF aircraft from February 1971.