Editing Bangladesh Armed Forces (section)

==History==
{{Main|Military history of Bangladesh}}

===Eastern wing of Pakistan===
{{See also|East Bengal Regiment}}
With the [[partitioning of India]] on 15 August 1947, the territory constituting modern Bangladesh was [[1947 Partition of Bengal|partitioned]] from the province of [[Bengal]] as [[East Bengal]], joining the newly created state of [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]]. Ethnic and sectional discrimination prevailed in all sectors of the state. Like other government sectors, Bengalis were under-represented in the Pakistani military too. Officers of Bengali origin in the different wings of the armed forces made up just 5% of overall force by 1965.<ref name="Library">{{cite book |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |date=1989 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |page=207 |chapter=Pakistan Era |access-date=23 March 2020 |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter-url=https://www.loc.gov/item/89600298/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404171656/http://www.loc.gov/item/89600298/ |archive-date=4 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> West Pakistanis believed that Bengalis were not "martially inclined" unlike [[Pashtun people|Pashtuns]] and [[Punjabi people|Punjabis]]; the "[[Martial Race]]s" notion was dismissed as ridiculous and humiliating by Bengalis.<ref name="Library" /> Moreover, despite huge defence spending, [[East Pakistan]] received none of the benefits, such as contracts, purchasing and military support jobs. The [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]] over [[Kashmir]] also highlighted the sense of military insecurity among Bengalis as only an under-strength [[infantry]] division and 15 [[combat aircraft]] without [[tank]] support were in East Pakistan to repel any Indian retaliations during the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/dec/demons.htm |title=Demons of December — Road from East Pakistan to Bangladesh |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609122558/http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/dec/demons.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jahan |first=Rounaq |author-link=Rounaq Jahan |date=1972 |title=Pakistan: Failure in National Integration |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |pages=166–167 |isbn=0-231-03625-6}}</ref>

The [[East Bengal Regiment]] was formed on 15 February 1948 following Pakistan's independence and transition from post British rule, composed exclusively of men from the western part of the country. The first East Bengal Regiment was composed of Bengali members of the ''British Indian Army Pioneer Corps'' and ''Bihar Regiment'' of the abolished ''British-Indian army''. Between 1948 and 1965, a total of eight battalions of EBR were raised.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/maj-abdul-gani-49729|title=Maj Abdul Gani|date=11 November 2014|newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)]]|access-date=6 October 2016|archive-date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005201423/http://www.thedailystar.net/maj-abdul-gani-49729|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/05war.htm|title=The 1965 War: A view from the east|work=Rediff.com|access-date=2017-12-13|archive-date=28 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528204404/http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/05war.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Bangladesh War of Independence===
{{Main|Bangladesh War of Independence}}
[[File:March71.PNG|thumb|Location of Bengali and Pakistani military units in March 1971]]
[[File:Bangladesh Military Museum - 3.7 inch howitzer.jpg|thumb|[[QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer]]s used by the [[Mukti Bahini]]]]
Following the victory of the [[Awami League]] in the 1970 elections, then-president General [[Yahya Khan]] refused to appoint its leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] as the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|prime minister]] and launched a brutal attack named ''[[Operation Searchlight]]'' on the Bengali nationalists of the then East Pakistan, using the [[Pakistan Army]] to repress political movements.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bose |first=Sarmila |date=8 October 2005 |title=Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971 |url=http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2005&leaf=10&filename=9223&filetype=html |journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301084941/http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2005&leaf=10&filename=9223&filetype=html |archive-date=1 March 2007}}</ref> The number of people killed by Pakistani forces vary from a minimum of around 300,000 to a maximum of around 3&nbsp;million.<ref name=MathewWhite>Matthew White's ''[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm#Bangladesh Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609095015/http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm#Bangladesh |date=9 June 2007 }}''</ref><ref>[http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/holocaust.html Virtual Bangladesh : History : The Bangali Genocide, 1971] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723203401/http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/holocaust.html|date=23 July 2011}}</ref> Responding to Mujib's call for rebellion, many students, workers and other civilians mutinied against Pakistan and raised the [[Mukti Bahini]], a [[Guerilla warfare|guerrilla force]]. Later on, many Bengali officers and units from the Pakistan Army and [[East Pakistan Rifles]] mutinied against their West Pakistani counterparts and joined the Mukti Bahini.<ref name="Rule">{{cite book |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |date=1989 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |pages=37–40 |chapter=Zia's regime |access-date=23 March 2020 |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622211513/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |archive-date=22 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="UB">{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Mukti Bahini}}</ref><ref name="II">{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Bangladesh Air Force}}</ref> On 17 April 1971, [[Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani|M. A. G Osmani]] took oath as the commander-in-chief of Mukti Bahini. While the war raged on, the necessity of a well-trained armed force was always felt. During the first Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference, held from 11 to 17 July 1971, the [[Mukti Bahini|Bangladesh Forces]] started its journey composed of the revolting Bengali members of the Pakistan Army and [[East Pakistan Rifles|EPR]].<ref name="bengalrenaissance1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bengalrenaissance.com/war.html |title=Bangladesh War of Independence |website= |access-date=3 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226034525/http://www.bengalrenaissance.com/war.html |archive-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> In this historic conference the field command structure, sector reorganization, reinforcement, appointment of field commanders and tactics of warfare were decided upon and carried out. On 21 November 1971, the Bangladesh Forces was divided into three separate services as [[Bangladesh Army]], [[Bangladesh Navy]] and [[Bangladesh Air Force]].

The Bangladesh Forces received modest assistance from the Indian Government soon after the start of the war, On 3 December 1971, the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|India-Pakistan war]] broke out and Indian troops entered Bangladesh allied with the Bangladesh Armed Forces.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/independence-day-special-2015/the-tangail-landings-signal-victory-73754|title=The Tangail Landings: A signal for victory|date=26 March 2015|work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)]]|access-date=3 October 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004041040/http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/independence-day-special-2015/the-tangail-landings-signal-victory-73754|url-status=live}}</ref> On 16 December 1971, the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|Pakistani military surrendered]] to the joint Indian and Bangladesh forces.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-261277|title=Witnessing the surrender|date=16 December 2012|work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)]]|access-date=3 October 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004035335/http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-261277|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Post-independence ===
{{See also|Military coups in Bangladesh|Chittagong Hill Tracts Conflict}}
The newly formed Bangladeshi armed forces incorporated some of the units and guerrillas of the Mukti Bahini.<ref name="LC">{{cite book |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |date=1989 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |page=211 |chapter=Postindependence Period |access-date=23 March 2020 |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter-url=https://www.loc.gov/item/89600298/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404171656/http://www.loc.gov/item/89600298/ |archive-date=4 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Gen. Osmani, who had led the Mukti Bahini was appointed the [[Military of Bangladesh|General of the Bangladesh armed forces]].<ref name="OT">{{cite book |last=Khan |first=Muazzam Hussain |year=2012 |chapter=Osmany, General Mohammad Ataul Ghani |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Osmany,_General_Mohammad_Ataul_Ghani |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617084932/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Osmany,_General_Mohammad_Ataul_Ghani |url-status=live }}</ref> For many years, there was active discrimination in favour of the inductees from the Mukti Bahini against those Bengali officers who had continued service in the Pakistani armed forces or had been detained in [[West Pakistan]].<ref name="LC"/><ref name="GF">{{cite book |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |date=1989 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |pages=32–36 |chapter=Mujib coup |access-date=23 March 2020 |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/19.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622211513/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |archive-date=22 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> A group of angered officers [[Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman|assassinated]] the president Sheikh Mujib on 15 August 1975 and established a regime with politician [[Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed]] as [[President of Bangladesh]] and new [[Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army|army chief]] Maj. Gen. [[Ziaur Rahman]].<ref name="GF"/> The military itself was subject of divisions as Mujib's assassins were overthrown by the pro-Mujib Brig. Gen. [[Khaled Mosharraf]] on 3 November, who himself was soon overthrown by a socialist group of officers under Col. [[Abu Taher]] on 7 November who returned Ziaur Rahman to power—an event now called the ''[[National Revolution and Solidarity Day|Sipoy-Janata Biplob]]'' (''Soldiers and People's Coup'').<ref name="JSTOR3">{{cite journal |last=Islam |first=Syed Serajul |date=May 1984 |title=The State in Bangladesh under Zia (1975–81) |journal=Asian Survey |publisher=University of California Press |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=556–573 |jstor=2644413 |doi=10.2307/2644413}}</ref> Under the presidency of Ziaur Rahman, the military was reorganised to remove conflicts between rival factions and discontented cadre.<ref name="VS">{{cite book |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |date=1989 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |pages=36–37 |chapter=Restoration of Military Rule |access-date=23 March 2020 |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/20.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622211513/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |archive-date=22 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, Ziaur Rahman was himself overthrown in a [[Assassination of Ziaur Rahman|1981 coup attempt]],<ref name="killing">{{cite magazine |title=Bangladesh: Death at Night |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922557,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930092059/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922557,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2007 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=8 June 1981 |access-date=10 September 2006 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and a year later, Lt. Gen. [[Hossain Mohammad Ershad]] took power from the elected government of president [[Abdus Sattar (president)|Abdus Sattar]]. The military remained the most important force in national politics under the regimes of Ziaur Rahman and later Hossain Mohammad Ershad until democracy was restored in 1991.<ref name="VS"/>

=== Modern period ===
{{See also|Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force}}
[[File:Bdunmsn3.jpg|thumb|Bangladeshi peacekeepers in [[Darfur]], [[Sudan]]]]
Having relied primarily on [[India]] and the [[Soviet Union]] for military aid, Bangladesh has also developed military ties with the [[People's Republic of China]] and the [[United States]]. The Bangladesh Army has been actively involved in United Nations Peace Support Operations (UNPSO). During the first [[Gulf War]] in 1991, the Bangladesh Army sent a 2,193 member team to monitor peace in [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Kuwait]]. The Bangladesh Army also participated in peace keeping activities in [[Namibia]], [[Cambodia]], [[Somalia]], [[Uganda]], [[Rwanda]], [[Mozambique]], former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[Liberia]], [[Haiti]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Western Sahara]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Kosovo]], Georgia, [[East Timor]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]] and [[Ethiopia]]. As of October 2008, Bangladesh remained the second largest contributor with 9,800 troops in the UN Peacekeeping forces.

Until a peace accord was signed in 1997, the Bangladeshi military engaged in [[counterinsurgency]] operations in the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] fighting the [[Shanti Bahini]] separatist group. In 2001, Bangladeshi military units [[2001 Indian-Bangladeshi border conflict|engaged in clashes]] with the Indian [[Border Security Force]] (BSF) along the northern border.<ref name="IBG">{{cite news |title=India-Bangladesh border conflict |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283068.stm |date=18 April 2001 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date=20 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020102522/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283068.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several projects and schemes aiming to expand and modernize the Bangladeshi armed forces were launched by the government of former Prime Minister [[Begum Khaleda Zia]].

[[Forces Goal 2030]] was launched by the government of Prime Minister [[Sheikh Hasina]] to secure new equipment for the Bangladeshi military.

===Bangladesh-Myanmar border===
Standoffs have occasionally occurred at the [[Bangladesh-Myanmar border]], including in 1991 and 2008. Most of the standoffs took place, when Myanmar attempted to force [[Rohingya people|Rohingyas]] into Bangladesh. In 2008, the two countries deployed warships after Myanmar attempted to explore a disputed Bay of Bengal seabed for oil and gas. The dispute was resolved at an international tribunal in 2012. Bangladesh and Myanmar have also conducted [[counter-insurgency]] operations on the border.
* [[2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff]]
* [[2015 Bangladesh-Arakan Army border clash]]