RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 7—With the war between Pakistan and India reaching a critical phase, Pakistan's President tonight appointed a civilian Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister whose immediate task is to plead Pakistan's case before the United Nations.

The President, Gen. Agha Mohamad Yahya Khan, will retain the real power but he has at least nominally honored commitments that he would form a civilian government by the end of the year.

General Yahya Khan named Nurul Amin, a Bengali lawyer and politician from East Pakistan whose right‐wing party won one seat out of 313 in a National Assembly election a year ago today, as Prime Minister.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former Foreign Minister, who is leader of West Pakistan's majority party, the Pakistan People party, was named Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. Bhutto, who is 43 years old, is a West Pakistani who graduated from the University of California.

Ceremonial Role

Mr. Amin's role in Government seems likely to be primarily ceremonial. Mr. Bhutto, who was also named as Foreign Minister, is leaving tonight for New York to plead Pakistan's case for international support against India.
Continue reading the main story

He said in an interview after his appointment that he viewed the war with India as his single concern for the time being and that politics and civil administration could be considered only after the present crisis was over.

By tonight the situation in East Pakistan had clearly become extremely grave for the defending Pakistani forces. A Pakistani spokesman acknowledged that Indian forces had made sizable gains there and that the city of Jessore, south‐ west of Dacca, was threatened from several directions by advancing troops that had captured Benapol.

A spokesman said the Indians were advancing in the Brahamanbaria area of Comilla District from the east, from the north into Mymensingh District after capturing the outpost at Kamalpur and in the north‐ western part of East Pakistan.

Despite many Indian Air Force attacks during the day on Dacca, a Pakistani spokesman said, Pakistani planes were not in combat in East Pakistan all day long.

Action Reported

Reporting on the fighting, a naval spokesman said a Pakistani destroyer that had been hit by missiles from Indian planes several days ago had sunk. He said that enemy forces operating within the territorial waters of East Pakistan had captured six United Nations coastal vessels carrying relief food grains.

In this connection, Pakistan today denounced India for seizing the coastal vessels and called the action “a deliberate and callous policy of denying food to East Pakistan.”

Pakistan also charged that India was deliberately bombing centers of civilian population and that if this continued Pakistan intended to retaliate in kind.

Military and diplomatic spokesmen here said that at least 300 civilians had been killed by Indian air raids during the last 36 hours.

Heavy raids were carried out last night on two densely populated slums in Karachi in which the Government said 112 persons were killed and more than 200 wounded. A Western correspondent in Karachi said he had seen 42 bodies at one hospital after the raid.

A community near a jute mill outside Dacca in East Pakistan also was reported heavily hit with about 150 dead and 100 wounded.