Mukti Bahini Mukti Bahini ( Freedom fighters or Liberation Army were a Bengali resistance force from East Pakistan , who fought against the Pakistan Army in the Bangladesh Liberation War . The Pakistan Army launched military operations against Bengali civilians , students , intelligentsia , and armed personnel after sundown on March 25 , 1971 . In response , Bangladesh declared independence and Bengali military and paramilitary personnel , as well as civilians , started spontaneous resistance against the aggression . This was the formation of the Mukti Bahini . Later in April , Bangladesh Armed Forces was formed formally with Col . M . A . G . Osmani as the commander - in - chief , Lt . Col . Abdur Rob as the chief - of - staff and Capt . A . K . Khandaker as the deputy chief - of - staff . The armed forces as well as the paramilitary and civilian forces who fought alongside them for the liberation of Bangladesh are referred to as the Mukti Bahini . Background . In August 1947 , the Partition of British India gave rise to two new states ; the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan , the latter intended to be a homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub - continent . The Dominion of Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west of India . The western zone was popularly ( and for a period of time , also officially ) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone ( now Bangladesh ) was initially termed East Bengal and later , East Pakistan . Although the population of the two zones was close to equal , political power was concentrated in West Pakistan and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited economically , leading to many grievances . Administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge . On 25 March 1971 , rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment , in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight . The events of the nine - month conflict of the Bangladesh Liberation War are widely viewed as genocide ; the Pakistan Army and collaborators targeted Hindu communities , intellectuals and members of the political opposition for attacks . Historians have estimated that , during the conflict , between two hundred thousand and four hundred thousand women and children were raped leading to an estimated 25 , 000 war babies being born . Estimates of persons killed during the conflict range from between 269 , 000 to one to three million . An estimated ten million refugees entered India , a situation which contributed to its government ' s decision to intervene militarily in the civil war . Thirty million people were displaced . Susan Brownmiller documented that girls from the age of eight to grandmothers of seventy - five suffered rapes during the war . Involvement in War . Mukti Bahini fought against Pakistan army in various battlegrounds throughout the country and also performed guerrilla operations in different army camps and establishments . Most of them did not have any professional military training nor they had any time for it . They were trained during the war . Sector commanders directed the guerrilla attacks and also trained the Mukti Bahini . The training camps were mostly situated near border areas with the direct assistance of India . Formation . The Mukti Bahini consisted of Bengali members of Pakistan armed forces and civilians from East Pakistan , in response to the Operation Searchlight on March 25 , 1971 , a violent military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army to curb the Bengali nationalist movement through selective genocide of Bengali people . Mukti Bahini used Guerrilla warfare tactics to fight against the Pakistan Army . India provided economic , military and diplomatic support to the Mukti Bahini , leading West Pakistan to launch Operation Chengiz Khan , a preemptive attack on the western border of India which started the Indo - Pakistani War of 1971 . The operation also precipitated the 1971 Bangladesh genocide and caused roughly 10 million refugees to flee to India . Essentially Bengali intelligentsia , academics and Hindus were targeted for the harshest treatment , with significant indiscriminate killing taking place . These systematic killings enraged the Bengalis , who declared independence from Pakistan , to achieve the new state of Bangladesh . Organization . When the Pakistan Army started the military crackdown on the Bengali population , they did not expect a prolonged resistance . But a large number of Bengali members of the East Bengal Regiment s ( EBR ) , East Pakistan Rifles ( EPR , later BDR , BGB ) , police , other paramilitary forces , students and other civilians started resistance against the Pakistan Army . With the formation of Bangladesh government on 17 April 1971 , Colonel M . A . G . Osmany ( later General ) was appointed as the Commander - in - Chief of all Bangladesh Forces . The members of EBR , EPR , police and other paramilitary forces were later called " regular force " or " niomito bahini " . During a conference of sector commanders held from 11 to 17 July 1971 held at Kolkata , the forces were further organized and the command was set up with Col . Osmany as the commander - in - chief ( C - in - C ) with the status of a cabinet minister , Lt . Col . , Abdur Rabb as the Chief of Staff ( COS ) , Group Captain A K Khandker as the Deputy Chief of Staff ( DCOS ) and Major A R Chowdhury as the Assistant Chief of Staff ( ACOS ) . Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors . Sector commanders were in charge of conducting guerrilla operations and training fighters . The 10th Sector was under the command of C - in - C Osmany and included the Naval Commandos and C - in - C ' s special force . During this conference some major initiatives were taken to organize the Mukti Bahini . This meeting was focused to discuss different problems and future course of action . In this conference Lt . Col . M A Rabb was appointed the Chief - of - staff and Group Captain A K Khandaker was appointed the Deputy Chief - of - staff . The important issues that were discussed during this conference are : Besides the eleven sectors , the combatants were also divided and reorganized into several groups : In addition , some independent forces fought in various regions of Bangladesh . These included the Mujib Bahini , organized by Major General Oban of the Indian Army and Student League leaders Serajul Alam Khan , Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani , Kazi Arif Ahmed , Abdur Razzak , Tofael Ahmed , A . S . M . Abdur Rab , Shahjahan Siraj , Nur E Alam Siddiqi , and Abdul Quddus Makhon and the Kaderia Bahini under Kader Siddique of Tangail . Kaderia Bahini also created a volunteer group to help his Bahini . Some other groups of freedom fighters were controlled by the Leftist parties and groups including the NAP and Communist Parties . A strong guerrilla force led by Siraj Sikder fought several battles with the Pakistani soldiers in Payarabagan , Barisal . Three brigades were created by Ziaur Rahman , Khaled Mosharraf and K M Shafiullah by the name of Z - force , K - force and S - force . A young guerrilla group named " Crack Platoon " did some courageous guerrilla attacks in the Dhaka city that attracted several international media at that time . List of Sectors and Subsectors . During the Liberation war , Bangladesh was geographically divided into eleven areas known as sectors . Each sector had sector commander who coordinated the military operations through sub - sector commanders . The sector commanders were officers of Pakistan army who joined Mukti Bahini . Table below lists all the sectors and sector commanders with their sub - commanders and geographical locations . Awards given to Mukti Bahini sepoys . The Bir Sreshtho ( ) ( The Most Valiant Hero ) , is the highest award given to those who show utmost bravery and die in action for their nation . It was awarded to seven Mukti Bahini fighters . They were : The other three gallantry awards are , in decreasing order of importance , Bir Uttom , Bir Bikrom and Bir Protik . All of these awards were introduced immediately after the Liberation War in 1971 . Dissolution . On 16 December 1971 , the allied forces of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army defeated the Pakistan Army deployed in the East . The resulting surrender was the largest in number of prisoners of war since World War II . Mukti Bahini was succeeded by the Bangladesh Armed Forces .