KARACHI: Pakistan Navy ships in the early hours of yesterday morning carried out a shore bombardment of Dwarka fortress, situated at a distance of 210 miles from Karachi on the Kathiawar coast, in order to destroy military and radar installations, which have been directing Indian Air Force bomber attacks on Karachi. An official spokesman said the ships silenced the shore batteries and inflicted heavy damage on the target area.

Thereafter, the ships came under heavy enemy air attacks all of which were successfully repulsed. During this engagement which lasted for over one-and-a-half hours, three enemy planes were shot down by the ships` gunfire.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Navy has sent a message of congratulations to the Officers and men who participated in the action.

Agencies [Meanwhile, as reported by our correspondent in Washington, J the United States might consider freezing economic aid to both Pakistan and India which might affect even food shipments if the Indo-Pak war continued, US officials were today [Sept 8] reported as saying in private. The US has already stopped all military aid to India and Pakistan.

The US State Department Press Officer, Mr Robert McCloskey, said today that military aid to the two countries was being suspended. It is learned that some ships carrying military material for the sub-continent are being diverted to Viet-Nam.

The first reaction in the Congress to the IndoPakistan war was heard today. [Thel Senate majority leader, Mr Mike Mansfield (Democrat) and the House Republican leader, Mr Gerald Ford, both urged the latter in sharp language that the United States use the aid lever to end the war. While the US tries to keep a neutral posture in the war, privately many officials as well as private Americans sadly admit that the flare-up in the sub-continent marks a tragic failure of the American policy in South Asia.