25 DECEMBER 1915, Page 3

The India Office has issued some further facts about the

fighting on the Tigris. General Townahend has been able to hold on to Kut-el-Amara, although the Turkish official report had said that he was unable to make good his position there ; and he has even been able to take the offensive by means of sallies. He estimates that the Turkish losses on December 1st (when a delaying action was fought during the retreat down the Tigris) and on December 12th-13th (when the Turks tried to assault Kut-el-Amara) amounted to two thousand five hundred. On December 17th-18th British and Indian troops surprised the Turks in their advanced trenches, killing about thirty and taking eleven prisoners.