Siege of Slunj | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Croatian War of Independence | |||||||
Fall of Slunj under JNA | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
SAO Krajina Support by: Yugoslavia | Croatia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Željko Ražnatović | Anton Tus | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Serb Volunteer Guard | Croatian Defence Forces | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
4,000 | 2,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
50 killed | 250 killed |
The siege of Slunj was an armed conflict in the territory of the municipality of Slunj in 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. [1] It was fought between the Croatian Army (HV) on one side, and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) on the other. It was the largest Croatian enclave that was separated from the rest of Croatia during the conflict. After the JNA took over Slunj, over 16,000 Croats were expelled from the enclave and hundreds were murdered in war crimes during the occupation until the end of the war.[ citation needed ]
The battle for Slunj in 1991 was part of a wider conflict during the war in Croatia, specifically within the operations conducted by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) against the Croatian Army (HV). At the beginning of October 1991, the tactical group of the JNA launched an attack from the area of Ličko Petrovo Selo towards Slunj. [2] From 9-10 October, the JNA made an initial breakthrough. During late October and early November, JNA units continued to advance towards Slunj, putting pressure on the HV. Shots were fired in the city, the HV fought to hold Slunj, but they did not succeed, and the JNA entered deeper into the city, resulting in a panic in which over 16,000 Croats fled from the enclave to Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 16 November, Slunj fell. Between 16-18 November, JNA forces continued their advance, capturing additional territories and enclosing a Croatian pocket area. By 27 November JNA forces managed to completely capture the Slunj enclave, leading to its fall. [3]
The fall of Slunj represented a significant loss for the HV because this created a link between what was to be the northern half of the RSK centered around Petrinja-Karlovac and the southern portion near Knin. [4] This was a strategic success that enabled further operations in the region. [5]
During the Serb occupation of Slunj and surrounding areas until 1995, 297 Croat civilians were killed in several war crimes, most victims were the elderly, women and children. [6]
The Croatian National Guard was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interior for legal reasons, the ZNG was under the direct command of the Ministry of Defence. It was tasked with the protection of Croatia's borders and territory, and with tasks normally associated with police forces. The ZNG was formed with the transfer of special police units to the ZNG, establishing four all-professional brigades in May 1991, and was presented to the public in a military parade in Zagreb on 28 May. It was commanded by Defence Minister General Martin Špegelj before his resignation in early August. Špegelj was replaced by General Anton Tus, who became the first head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.
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Operation Jackal (Serbo-Croatian: Operacija Čagalj, also known as Operation June Dawns, was an offensive of the Bosnian War fought between a combined Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council army against the Army of Republika Srpska from 7–26 June 1992. The offensive was a Croatian pre-emptive strike against the VRS, a Bosnian Serb military formed in May 1992 from Yugoslav People's Army units that were stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The HV concluded that the JNA offensive operations of April and May 1992, resulting in the capture of Kupres and much of the Neretva River valley south of Mostar, were aimed at capturing or threatening the Croatian Port of Ploče and possibly Split. To counter this threat, the Croatian leadership deployed the HV, under the command of General Janko Bobetko, to the "Southern Front" including the area in which Operation Jackal was to be conducted.
The Zrinski Battalion was a special forces unit of the Croatian National Guard and later of the Croatian Army established in Kumrovec on 18 May 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The unit drew personnel from the special police forces and a former French Foreign Legion troops serving as its core. The battalion was set up and initially commanded by Ante Roso, while Major Miljenko Filipović took over as the commanding officer in August.
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The Bosnian offensive on Sarajevo in 1995 was a military offensive executed by Bosnian Muslim forces (ARBiH) against Serb forces (VRS) in an attempt to break the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. The Bosnian Muslim forces were superior in manpower, but not in heavy weapons, key items for Trench Warfare. This lack of weapons eventually led to commander Rasim Delić to stop the offensive due to heavy losses.
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The Attack on Teslić was an attempt by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) to take Teslić and the surrounding settlements from the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in October 1994 during the Bosnian War. All attacks on the city were successfully defended by the VRS. After the signing of the Washington Agreement in late march 1994, which ended the Croat-Bosniak War in the Tešanj-Maglaj enclave, the ARBiH saved significant forces that were on the front lines against the 111th Croatian Defence Council (HVO) brigade from Žepče and transferred them to the Serb front line towards Teslić.
Operation Višegrad was the code name of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) operation to seize power in the city of Višegrad during the Bosnian War, in order to protect Bosnian Serb civilians and to expel the fighters of the Patriotic League. This battle was one of the first after the war, in addition to the battles for Kupres, Foča, Bijeljina and others.
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