Operation Flash
Encyclopedia
The Serbs
in western Slavonia
took part in the organized rebellion against the government of the Republic of Croatia that had just proclaimed independence in June 1991, by proclaiming the Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia
in August 1991. It formally joined the rest of rebel areas later in the year, resulting in the proclamation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) in December 1991.
Initially, the territory of the SAO Western Slavonia was relatively large and the rebel forces could theoretically advance north to the Hungarian
border and sever the link between Zagreb
and Osijek
. This could have resulted in the formation of the infamous Virovitica-Karlovac-Karlobag line
. In reality, the territory of the SAO Western Slavonia was mostly hills and forests, with a relatively poor communication infrastructure. Establishing and maintaining a base for such ambitious operations required more resources than the Serbian government was willing or able to invest. As a result, the SAO Western Slavonia didn't receive as much support from the Yugoslav People's Army
(JNA) as other parts of the RSK did. Most of its forces were local militias, poorly trained and lightly armed. The military weakness of SAO Western Slavonia became apparent in late 1991 when local Croatian forces, armed and equipped from the captured JNA garrison in nearby Varaždin
, conducted a series of offensives which ultimately reduced SAO Western Slavonia to a relatively small pocket centered around Okučani
. The borders of the rebel area in Western Slavonia were entrenched after the Sarajevo armistice in 1992. Its main supply lines were to Serb-held territory of SAO Bosanska Krajina
, while its connection to SAO Krajina
was a forested area south of Novska
.
The position of SAO Western Slavonia became even more precarious with the escalation of the Bosnian War
in 1992. Veljko Džakula and a group of other local rebel Serb politicians in 1992 and 1993 realized that it was untenable in the long run, and started secret negotiations with the Croatian government about eventual peaceful transfer of the rebel areas in Western Slavonia under Croatian authority. On 18 February 1993, Croatian and local Serb leaders (led by Džakula) signed the Daruvar Agreement. The Agreement was kept secret and was working towards normalizing life for the locals on the battlefield line. However, the Knin authorities learned of the deal - and Džakula was arrested by the authorities of the RSK and replaced by hardliners.
The UN negotiators saw this development as an encouraging sign that the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia could be ended peacefully. The authorities of Croatia and the rebel areas in Western Slavonia were encouraged to take part in various confidence building programs like family reunions. Some of those programs began to bear fruit in late 1994. The most important was the opening of the Zagreb-Županja motorway
for Croatian traffic.
In late April 1995 there was an inter-ethnic incident which resulted in the deaths of a number of Croats and Serbs and in the disruption of the motorway. Hrvoje Šarinić
, Franjo Tuđman's former Cabinet Chief, confirmed under cross-examination at the Slobodan Milošević
trial a transcript detailing the then Croatian leadership's plan to stage an incident as a pretext for the offensive on May 1, although no linkage was shown to the abovementioned incident. Šarinić, as a witness at the same trial, downplayed the significance of such a plan, pointing out there were many incidents daily, and to his own experiences at being refused entry on the motorway, problems with reopening the oil pipeline, and finally stating that he was "very astonished that any incident was needed, because it was quite legitimate to free part of the country that had been occupied".
and 5th Guards Brigade) and Special Police units began their advance from three directions. Over 7,200 soldiers and policemen participated in the operation.
Rebel forces were quickly overwhelmed and in a few hours time local commanders and civilian authorities issued orders for evacuation across the River Sava into parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by Serbian forces.
By the afternoon of May 2 all rebel forces were evacuated and the Croatian Army had achieved all of its initial aims. One large group of rebel soldiers and civilians, including Džakula, failed to evacuate and had to surrender near Pakrac
. The operation produced a total of around 1,500 Serb POWs, the largest capturing of an enemy force to date in the war.
The forces of the RSK also launched a retaliatory action
against civilian targets by launching a number of cluster shells on Zagreb
on May 2 and 3rd. The attack killed seven and injured at least 175 people. On that very same day the leader of the RSK, Milan Martić
publicly took responsibility for the shelling, and that statement was used against him at his International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) trial.
Initially, Croatian authorities reported that Croatian Army and police units had 55 fatalities during the course of the operation. In 2000, the official quote was that 33 members of the army and 9 members of the special police units were killed, and that 162 were injured. The government refused to publish a list of these casualties and only spoke in general numbers, causing some public outcry.
Gojko Šušak
had claimed that 454 people were killed in the Operation on the Serbian side.
The outcome of the operation was not surprising, considering the disparity in equipment, training and, ultimately, morale between two opposing sides. However, it proved to be major boost for Croatian Army and it tested procedures and tactics that would be employed in Operation Storm
with even more wide-ranging results.
The United Nations Protection Force
(UNPROFOR) also removed itself from the former United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) Sector West, but did not make any effort to oppose the Croatians since the October 1993 Security Council resolution affirmed that the United Nations Protected Areas were an integral part of the Republic of Croatia.
Among Serbs in the RSK and the Republic of Srpska, Operation Flash caused huge demoralisation. The 500 km² of the SAO Western Slavonia was not only the first major part of the RSK to be erased from the maps; it also proved the untenability of the Greater Serbian project under the new circumstances. Rebel Serbs from Western Slavonia not only failed to get support from Serbia proper, but also from Republika Srpska.
The reports of war crimes during and after Flash were relatively scarce, and conduct of Croatian military and police was generally professional. Nevertheless the U.N. Secretary General
's Personal Representative, Yasushi Akashi
said that "massive" human right abuses have taken place during the offensive, though a subsequent and in-depth Human Rights Watch
investigation showed there were only isolated incidents and criticized the Secretary General for his preemature and counterproductive statement.
Reprisals against POWs or Serb civilians did, however, happen. The Croatian Government's Commission on missing and captured persons composed a list of 168 fatalities together with places of burial, of which 79 bodies were identified. A Croatian Helsinki Committee
report from 2003 noted a total of 83 civilians murdered by the Croatian forces, of which 30 in the attacks on refugee columns and 53 in their homes.
The Serbian Veritas NGO reported that "283 people were either killed or went missing, 57 of them women and nine children. The Croats buried 168 Serbs, mostly listing them as "unidentified", and those bodies have to date not been exhumed and identified".
The Association of Refugee Organizations of Serbs from Croatia is based in Belgrade, headed by one Milojko Budimir, and they yearly commemorate the event and attend church services for the victims of Operation Flash. Their stance is that no one has been held accountable for the crimes committed against the Serbs, "neither in front of the Hague Tribunal, nor in front of the domestic courts".
Serbs of Croatia
Višeslav of Serbia, a contemporary of Charlemagne , ruled the Županias of Neretva, Tara, Piva, Lim, his ancestral lands. According to the Royal Frankish Annals , Duke of Pannonia Ljudevit Posavski fled, during the Frankish invasion, from his seat in Sisak to the Serbs in western Bosnia, who...
in western Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
took part in the organized rebellion against the government of the Republic of Croatia that had just proclaimed independence in June 1991, by proclaiming the Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia
SAO Western Slavonia
SAO Western Slavonia or Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia was a Serbian self-proclaimed autonomous region within Croatia. It was formed on 12 August 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
in August 1991. It formally joined the rest of rebel areas later in the year, resulting in the proclamation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) in December 1991.
Initially, the territory of the SAO Western Slavonia was relatively large and the rebel forces could theoretically advance north to the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
border and sever the link between Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and Osijek
Osijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
. This could have resulted in the formation of the infamous Virovitica-Karlovac-Karlobag line
Virovitica-Karlovac-Karlobag line
The Karlobag-Ogulin-Karlovac-Virovitica line is a hypothetical boundary often used to describe the western extent of an irredentist nationalist Serbian state. Everything east of this line would form a part of Serbia, while the west of it would be within Slovenia, and all which might remain of Croatia...
. In reality, the territory of the SAO Western Slavonia was mostly hills and forests, with a relatively poor communication infrastructure. Establishing and maintaining a base for such ambitious operations required more resources than the Serbian government was willing or able to invest. As a result, the SAO Western Slavonia didn't receive as much support from the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
(JNA) as other parts of the RSK did. Most of its forces were local militias, poorly trained and lightly armed. The military weakness of SAO Western Slavonia became apparent in late 1991 when local Croatian forces, armed and equipped from the captured JNA garrison in nearby Varaždin
Varaždin
Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...
, conducted a series of offensives which ultimately reduced SAO Western Slavonia to a relatively small pocket centered around Okučani
Okucani
Okučani is a village in western Slavonia, Croatia. It is located at the contact point between the Posavina plain and the southern slopes of Psunj; 19 km southeast of Novska and 17 km west of Nova Gradiška; elevation 119 m. Chief occupations are farming, livestock breeding, fishing and...
. The borders of the rebel area in Western Slavonia were entrenched after the Sarajevo armistice in 1992. Its main supply lines were to Serb-held territory of SAO Bosanska Krajina
SAO Bosanska Krajina
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Bosanska Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serbian autonomous region within today's Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was sometimes called the Autonomous Region of Krajina . SAO Bosanska Krajina was located in the geographical region named Bosanska Krajina. Its capital was...
, while its connection to SAO Krajina
SAO Krajina
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina or SAO Krajina was a self proclaimed Serbian autonomous region within modern-day Croatia . It existed between 1990 and 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
was a forested area south of Novska
Novska
Novska is a town in Croatian Slavonia, located between Kutina and Nova Gradiška, southeast of the capital, Zagreb. It has a total population of 13,573 in the following settlements:* Bair, population 6* Borovac, population 276* Brestača, population 911...
.
The position of SAO Western Slavonia became even more precarious with the escalation of the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
in 1992. Veljko Džakula and a group of other local rebel Serb politicians in 1992 and 1993 realized that it was untenable in the long run, and started secret negotiations with the Croatian government about eventual peaceful transfer of the rebel areas in Western Slavonia under Croatian authority. On 18 February 1993, Croatian and local Serb leaders (led by Džakula) signed the Daruvar Agreement. The Agreement was kept secret and was working towards normalizing life for the locals on the battlefield line. However, the Knin authorities learned of the deal - and Džakula was arrested by the authorities of the RSK and replaced by hardliners.
The UN negotiators saw this development as an encouraging sign that the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia could be ended peacefully. The authorities of Croatia and the rebel areas in Western Slavonia were encouraged to take part in various confidence building programs like family reunions. Some of those programs began to bear fruit in late 1994. The most important was the opening of the Zagreb-Županja motorway
A3 (Croatia)
The A3 motorway is a major motorway in Croatia spanning . The motorway connects Zagreb, the nation's capital, to the Slavonia region and a number of cities along the Sava River. It represents a major east–west transportation corridor in Croatia and a significant part of the Pan-European Corridor...
for Croatian traffic.
In late April 1995 there was an inter-ethnic incident which resulted in the deaths of a number of Croats and Serbs and in the disruption of the motorway. Hrvoje Šarinić
Hrvoje Šarinic
Hrvoje Šarinić is a Croatian politician.Šarinić was born in Sušak, Rijeka and graduated from the University of Zagreb then-Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy....
, Franjo Tuđman's former Cabinet Chief, confirmed under cross-examination at the Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
trial a transcript detailing the then Croatian leadership's plan to stage an incident as a pretext for the offensive on May 1, although no linkage was shown to the abovementioned incident. Šarinić, as a witness at the same trial, downplayed the significance of such a plan, pointing out there were many incidents daily, and to his own experiences at being refused entry on the motorway, problems with reopening the oil pipeline, and finally stating that he was "very astonished that any incident was needed, because it was quite legitimate to free part of the country that had been occupied".
Timeline
On the early morning of 1 May, Croatian Army forces (which included elements of the 3rd Guards Brigade3rd Guards Brigade (Croatia)
The 3rd Guards Brigade , also known by their nickname Kune , was a Croatian Ground Army brigade formed on 29 April 1991 in Vinkovci...
and 5th Guards Brigade) and Special Police units began their advance from three directions. Over 7,200 soldiers and policemen participated in the operation.
Rebel forces were quickly overwhelmed and in a few hours time local commanders and civilian authorities issued orders for evacuation across the River Sava into parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by Serbian forces.
By the afternoon of May 2 all rebel forces were evacuated and the Croatian Army had achieved all of its initial aims. One large group of rebel soldiers and civilians, including Džakula, failed to evacuate and had to surrender near Pakrac
Pakrac
Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,852, total municipality population 8,482 . Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina.-Name:...
. The operation produced a total of around 1,500 Serb POWs, the largest capturing of an enemy force to date in the war.
The forces of the RSK also launched a retaliatory action
Zagreb rocket attack
The Zagreb rocket attacks were a series of two artillery attacks conducted by Serb armed forces that fired ground-to-ground missiles on the Croatian capital of Zagreb during the Croatian War of Independence...
against civilian targets by launching a number of cluster shells on Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
on May 2 and 3rd. The attack killed seven and injured at least 175 people. On that very same day the leader of the RSK, Milan Martić
Milan Martic
Milan Martić is a Serbian politician, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina...
publicly took responsibility for the shelling, and that statement was used against him at his International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
(ICTY) trial.
Aftermath
Gojko Šušak
Gojko Šušak
Gojko Šušak was the Croatian Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998. A Bosnian Croat emigreé to Canada, he entered the political life of Croat diaspora in North America, subsequently becoming a close friend and associate to Franjo Tuđman, the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union, a nationalistic...
had claimed that 454 people were killed in the Operation on the Serbian side.
The outcome of the operation was not surprising, considering the disparity in equipment, training and, ultimately, morale between two opposing sides. However, it proved to be major boost for Croatian Army and it tested procedures and tactics that would be employed in Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
with even more wide-ranging results.
The United Nations Protection Force
United Nations Protection Force
The United Nations Protection Force ', was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars. It existed between the beginning of UN involvement in February 1992, and its restructuring into other forces in March 1995...
(UNPROFOR) also removed itself from the former United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) Sector West, but did not make any effort to oppose the Croatians since the October 1993 Security Council resolution affirmed that the United Nations Protected Areas were an integral part of the Republic of Croatia.
Among Serbs in the RSK and the Republic of Srpska, Operation Flash caused huge demoralisation. The 500 km² of the SAO Western Slavonia was not only the first major part of the RSK to be erased from the maps; it also proved the untenability of the Greater Serbian project under the new circumstances. Rebel Serbs from Western Slavonia not only failed to get support from Serbia proper, but also from Republika Srpska.
Civilian casualties and exile
The Serb civilian population of the RSK-controlled areas of western Slavonia was gravely impacted by Operation Flash, and they mostly fled the region as a result of the operation. Sources differ regarding the number of Serb refugees after Flash: Veritas documentation-information center, a Serb non-profit organization based in Knin and later in Belgrade, supporting the RSK, reports around 15,000 inhabitants of the region, while the Serbian news agency Beta press estimates 30,000. While there have been returnees since the end of the war, to all parts of Croatia, the number of returnees is small in comparison to the pre-war population.The reports of war crimes during and after Flash were relatively scarce, and conduct of Croatian military and police was generally professional. Nevertheless the U.N. Secretary General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
's Personal Representative, Yasushi Akashi
Yasushi Akashi
Yasushi Akashi is a senior Japanese diplomat and United Nations administrator. Akashi graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tokyo in 1954, studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Virginia, and later at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University...
said that "massive" human right abuses have taken place during the offensive, though a subsequent and in-depth Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
investigation showed there were only isolated incidents and criticized the Secretary General for his preemature and counterproductive statement.
Reprisals against POWs or Serb civilians did, however, happen. The Croatian Government's Commission on missing and captured persons composed a list of 168 fatalities together with places of burial, of which 79 bodies were identified. A Croatian Helsinki Committee
Croatian Helsinki Committee
Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights is the leading organisation for protection and promotion of human rights in Croatia...
report from 2003 noted a total of 83 civilians murdered by the Croatian forces, of which 30 in the attacks on refugee columns and 53 in their homes.
The Serbian Veritas NGO reported that "283 people were either killed or went missing, 57 of them women and nine children. The Croats buried 168 Serbs, mostly listing them as "unidentified", and those bodies have to date not been exhumed and identified".
The Association of Refugee Organizations of Serbs from Croatia is based in Belgrade, headed by one Milojko Budimir, and they yearly commemorate the event and attend church services for the victims of Operation Flash. Their stance is that no one has been held accountable for the crimes committed against the Serbs, "neither in front of the Hague Tribunal, nor in front of the domestic courts".