Operation Medak Pocket
Encyclopedia
Operation Medak Pocket: Mid-September 1993 United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2PPCLI) advanced into the Medak Pocket, named after the village of Medak, in Southern Croatia, with orders to implement a ceasefire between the Croatian Army Troops and Serbian irregular forces.
The Croatian offensive temporarily succeeded in expelling rebel Serb forces from the pocket after several days of fighting. However, the operation ended in controversy after a skirmish with United Nations
peacekeepers
and accusations of serious Croatian war crimes against local Serb civilians. Although the outcome of the battle was a tactical victory for the Croatians, it became a serious political liability for the Croatian government and international political pressure forced a withdrawal to the previous ceasefire lines.
According to Canadian and French military sources, UN and Croatian troops exchanged heavy fire. In Canada, at the time, the battle was considered to be one of the most severe battles fought by the Canadian Forces
since the Korean War
, while Croatian sources describe it as merely a brief, accidental exchange of fire resulting in few casualties.
Croatia and Bosnia had a very high population of Serbian civilians during the time of the break from Yugoslavia. The Croatian and Bosnian Serbs established paramilitary forces and resisted the new governments in two separate civil wars. Within the first few months of these wars the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA) quickly intervened to avert the break up of the federation by assisting the Serb militia in both Croatia and Bosnia. However, the JNA was created by the old republic and had divided opinions of loyalties internally and disbanded. Non-Serbian officers and NCOs left the JNA to join forces with their home armies and thus destroying the only professional military force in Yugoslavia. With no army left and an economy on the brink of bankruptcy, Serbia withdrew all troops in Croatia and Bosnia, leaving Serbian militias to fend for themselves.
Much of the interior of the Lika
region of southern Croatia was captured by Krajina Serb (RSK) forces and the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army
(JNA) during 1991. As Croatia moved towards independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
the region saw heavy fighting throughout the summer and autumn, during which Croatian Serb rebels established the self-proclaimed (but internationally unrecognised) Republic of Serb Krajina. Almost all of the Croatian population in the Serb-held area was killed, expelled or forced to seek refuge in government held areas. Serbs continued shelling the major Croatian cities of Gospić, Zadar and Sibenik throughout the year from their positions, killing hundreds of civilians. Serious human rights violations were also perpetrated against Serbs in the Croatian government-held parts of the region, most notably the Gospić massacre
of October 1991. In 1992 UNPROFOR entered Croatia then later Bosnia to restore the peace, act as negotiators, aid-workers and combat soldiers. A ceasefire was agreed following the fall of the town of Vukovar
at the end of the Battle of Vukovar
in November 1991 and a United Nations peacekeeping force (UNPROFOR) was installed to police the armistice lines.
Despite this, sporadic sniping and shelling continued to take place between the two sides. Gospić
, which was close to the front lines, was repeatedly subjected to shellfire from the Serbian Army of Krajina
(SVK). The town was of great importance in securing lines of communication between Dalmatia and the rest of Croatia. Much of the shelling took place from the Serb-controlled Medak Pocket, an area of high ground near Medak, Croatia
approximately four to five kilometres wide and five to six kilometres long which consisted of the localities of Divoselo, Čitluk and part of Počitelj plus numerous small hamlets. The pocket was primarily a rural area with a combination of forest and open fields. It was fairly lightly inhabited before the attack, with about 400 Serb civilians residing in the area and was held by units of the SVK's 15th Lika Corps.
The pocket adjoined Sector South, one of the four United Nations Protected Areas
(UNPAs) in Croatia. It was not actually in the UNPA but lay just outside in a so-called "pink zone", or disputed area, patrolled by UNPROFOR peacekeepers. Prior to the Medak Pocket offensive, Croatian government forces had launched several relatively small-scale attacks to retake rebel Serb-held territory in "pink zones" at the Miljevci Plateau in June 1992 and the area of the Maslenica bridge
in northern Dalmatia
in January 1993. It has been alleged that the timing of the Maslenica
and Medak offensives was owed to the political imperatives of Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, who was facing political difficulties following Croatia's intervention in the war in Bosnia
.
, including T-72
tank
s, as well as large numbers of artillery pieces and an array of small arms.
The SVK was taken by surprise and fell back. After two days of fighting the Croatian forces had taken control of Divoselo, Čitluk and part of Počitelj. The salient was pinched out with the new front line running just in front of the village of Medak
. In retaliation for the offensive, Serb forces began to use long-range artillery to shell the city of Karlovac
and fired FROG-7
ballistic missile
s into the Croatian capital Zagreb
. The attack on Karlovac was especially brutal and dozens of civilians were killed.
The SVK launched counter-attacks which retook some of the captured territory and brought the Croatian advance to a halt. It also threatened to attack 20 or 30 more targets throughout Croatia unless the captured territory was handed back. The two sides exchanged heavy artillery fire during 12–13 September, with the UN recording over 6,000 detonations in the Gospić-Medak area. On 13 and 14 September, Croatian Air Force MiG-21 aircraft attacked SVK artillery and rocket batteries in Banovina and Kordun
but one aircraft was shot down near Vrginmost.
, on behalf of the Serbian side and Major-General Petar Stipetić, on behalf of the Croatian side. The agreement required the Croatian forces to withdraw to the starting lines of 9 September, and for Serb forces to withdraw from the pocket and remain withdrawn thereafter. The Croatian withdrawal was scheduled for 1200 on 15 September.
In order to oversee the withdrawal and protect local civilians, UNPROFOR sent 875 troops of the Second Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
to move into the pocket, accompanied by two French Army
mechanized units. The UN forces, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Calvin, were instructed to interpose themselves between the Serb and Croatian forces.
armoured personnel carrier
s and carried a mix of M2 .50 caliber machine guns, C-6
medium machine guns, C-7 assault rifles, C-9 light machine guns, and 84 mm Carl Gustav anti-tank rockets. The attached Heavy Weapons Support Company brought 81 mm mortars and a specially fitted APC armed with anti-tank guided missiles.
Croatian forces and other officials involved with the Medak Pocket Mission lost confidence in the UN’s ability due to failed attacks on forces in the zone of separation between Krajinan Serb forces. Earlier that year Croatian troops had launched an attack in order to seize a power dam and reservoir. UN forces stationed in the area quickly fled before the attacking Croats, confirming Croat beliefs that a show of force would scare away the UN soldiers. Consequently, the UN needed muscle in Sector South to rebuild its’ credibility in the eyes of many across the globe. With their ‘tough but fair’ reputation the Canadian Battalion 2PPCLI was sent from North near Zagreb to Krajinan region in Southern Croatia, near the Dalmatian Coast territory.
The Croatian forces, under the pretext of not receiving authorization from Zagreb, decided to attack the Canadian forces who were moving in between the Serb and Croat forces. Private Scott LeBlanc who was present in the UN forces recalls, "We started taking fire almost immediately from the Croats". When the Canadians began constructing a fortified position, the Croatians fired hundreds of artillery shells at them. The barrage was sporadic, however, and the Canadians successfully used breaks in the shelling to repair and reinforce their positions. In the end, only four Canadians were wounded by the attack.
The UN forces subsequently took control of abandoned Serbian positions but again came under fire from the Croatian lines, with the attackers using rocket propelled grenade
s and anti-aircraft guns. The UN troops then dug in their positions and returned fire. As night fell the Croatians attempted several flanking manoeuvres but the Canadians responded with sniper
fire against the Croatian infantry. The French used 20 mm cannon fire to suppress Croatian heavy weapons. Although this destroyed only a few of the heavy weapons, the aggressive UN response convinced the Croatians to only use their strongest weapons sporadically. They did not deploy their most powerful weapons, such as their tanks, apparently fearing that the UN would use anti-tank missiles and air support against them. The Croatian commander, Rahim Ademi, upon realizing that his forces had reached a stalemate, met with the Canadian commander and agreed to a ceasefire where his troops would withdraw by noon the next day.
When the deadline passed, Canadian forces attempted to cross the Croatian lines, but were stopped at a mined and well-defended roadblock. Unwilling to fight his way through, Calvin instead held an impromptu media conference with the roadblock as a backdrop, telling 20 or so international journalists that Croatian forces clearly had something to hide. The Croatian high command, realizing they had a public relations disaster on their hands, quickly moved back to their lines held on 9 September. The withdrawal was finally verified as having been completed by 18:00 on 17 September, bringing the offensive to an end.
The advancing Canadian forces discovered that the Croat army had destroyed almost all of the Serb buildings, razing them to the ground. In the burning wrecks they found 16 mutilated corpses. The Canadians expected to find many survivors hiding in the woods, but no Serb was found alive. Rubber surgical gloves littered the area, suggesting a clean-up operation. Everything was recorded and handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The evidence helped convince the ICTY to issue an indictment in 2001 against Ademi, charging him with crimes against humanity.
Calvin, the Canadian commander, later reported that "27 of [the Croatian Army's] members were killed or wounded during the fire fights with my battle group during the 14 days in Medak". Even though the operation was considered a success, due to the emerging Somalia Affair
, the clash was not highly publicized at the time. The true memorial heroes of the Medak Pocket incident were the Canadian Peacekeepers. Canadians are trained to deal with foreign population and authorities, have to deal with conflicting parties as a non-enemy participant with knowledge and the caution that one side would become the enemy. Canadians are also taught how to deal with human rights violations, especially those that many Canadians had to face in the Medak Pocket where ethnic cleansing occurred. Most importantly they have an advanced knowledge and skill for the operational knowledge of law and armed conflict.
Most recognizable and honoured event of the Canadian troops during the Medak Pocket was their ability to immediately back down when Croatian forces ceased-fire. Canadians reverted to their role as impartial peacekeepers. Canadian forces recognized that regular armies which are usually well disciplined, trained and respected the chain of command, irregular officers are often ignorant to the respected rules of combat.
Calvin's report that 27 of the Croatian Army's members were killed or wounded is, according to Calvin, based on "Croatian reports", and not on his own data.
The French Lieutenant-General Jean Cot, who was in charge of the operation and Calvin's superior officer, backs up the Canadian account of what happened and says:
published a report claiming that "the armed conflict between the Croatian and Canadian forces in operation Medak Pocket from 9 to 17 September 1993 never happened" and that the Canadians had fired "no more than a couple of shots into the night." Retired Croatian general Davor Domazet-Loso, in an effort to defend his fellow Croatian generals fighting ICTY crimes against humanity charges, suggested Canadian troops fought Serb not Croat fighters. This was strongly denied by the Canadian Department of National Defence
, the Canadian Commander at the time, retired Col. Jim Calvin, and decorated Canadian Army veterans who served at Medak. For their part, the Croatian authorities, both civil and military, during the aftermath of the skirmish with the UN forces and in the years that followed, have never admitted that any serious battle with the UNPROFOR forces in the Medak area ever occurred and claim that the Canadian forces' version of events is politically motivated.
Radio 101
reported the testimony of a UN officer, Danish colonel Vagn Ove Moebjerg Nielsen, a witness at the Norac/Ademi trial for war crimes in Medak Pocket. Colonel Nielsen, who was not present during the Medak Pocket offensive, reportedly stated that in September 1993, except for one minor incident, there was no armed conflict between Croatian soldiers and the "blue helmets".
Investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) determined that at least 100 Serb civilians had been unlawfully killed and many others had suffered serious injuries; many of the victims were women and elderly people. 29 executed Serb civilians have been identified, as well as five Serb soldiers who had been captured or wounded. More were thought to have been killed, but the bodies were said to have been removed or destroyed by the Croatians. In addition, Serb-owned property was systematically looted and destroyed to render the area uninhabitable. Personal belongings, household goods, furniture, housing items, farm animals, farm machinery and other equipment were looted or destroyed, and wells were polluted to make them unusable. An estimated 164 homes and 148 barns and outbuildings were burned down or blown up. Much of the destruction was said to have taken place during the 48 hours between the ceasefire being signed and the withdrawal being completed.
The US Department of State claimed that Croatian forces destroyed 11 Serbian villages and killed at least 67 individuals, including civilians.
Several members of the Croatian military were subsequently charged with war crimes. The highest-ranking indictee was General Janko Bobetko
. He was indicted for war crimes by the ICTY in 2001, but died before the case was heard by the court, and in consequence the trial was cancelled.
The wider area was under the jurisdiction of the Gospić Military District, commanded at the time by Brigadier Rahim Ademi
. He was also indicted by the ICTY and was transferred there in 2001. In 2004, General Mirko Norac
– who was already serving a 12-year jail sentence in Croatia for his role in the Gospić massacre
– was also indicted and transferred to The Hague
. The two cases were joined in July 2004 and in November 2005 the Tribunal agreed to a Croatian government request to transfer the case back to Croatia, for trial before a Croatian court.
The trial of Mirko Norac
and Rahim Ademi
began at the Zagreb County Court in June 2007 and resulted in a seven year sentence for Norac for failing to stop his soldiers killing Serbs (28 civilians and 5 prisoners) and acquittal for Ademi.
, which ended in the defeat of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina.
The Medak Pocket offensive can be considered a tactical victory for the Croats in that it reduced the Serb threat against Gospić and permanently eliminated the possibility of splitting Croatia in half as had been planned. The goal having been achieved, the Croatian Army did not, at the time, press any further since the geopolitical and strategic situation was not ideal for a major offensive to fully control the region. The offensive also exposed serious weaknesses in the Croatian Army's command, control, and communications, which had also been a problem in Operation Maslenica
earlier in the year.
The operation caused serious political difficulties for the Croatian government, which was heavily criticised abroad for its actions at Medak. The well-publicised accusations of war crimes, along with the Muslim-Croat bloodshed in Bosnia, led to Croatia's image being severely tarnished; in many quarters abroad, the country was viewed as having moved from being a victim to an aggressor. It also provided a major propaganda boost for the Serbian side.
The war crimes committed during the operation damaged the credibility of UNPROFOR as well, as its forces had been unable to prevent them despite being in the vicinity at the time. Boutros Boutros-Ghali
, the UN Secretary-General, admitted that
The 2nd Battalion, PPCLI, was later awarded the Commander-in-Chief's Commendation for its actions in the Medak Pocket, the first Canadian unit ever presented this unit commendation.
The Croatian offensive temporarily succeeded in expelling rebel Serb forces from the pocket after several days of fighting. However, the operation ended in controversy after a skirmish with United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
peacekeepers
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
and accusations of serious Croatian war crimes against local Serb civilians. Although the outcome of the battle was a tactical victory for the Croatians, it became a serious political liability for the Croatian government and international political pressure forced a withdrawal to the previous ceasefire lines.
According to Canadian and French military sources, UN and Croatian troops exchanged heavy fire. In Canada, at the time, the battle was considered to be one of the most severe battles fought by the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
since the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, while Croatian sources describe it as merely a brief, accidental exchange of fire resulting in few casualties.
Background
Up to the early 1990s Yugoslavia was a federation of six republics: Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. All six republics once lived harmoniously amongst one another with similar language, culture and customs; until the collapse of the centralized communist authority in Yugoslavia in the late 1980s. With the fall of the communist power in Yugoslavia, nationalists from each republic proceeded into central politics. Serbian Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian Franjo Tudjman rose to power and replaced the Yugoslavian culture and customs with a nation based on race and religion. Meanwhile, Serbia was the most powerful of all the republics and attempted to take full control of the falling nations. The growing nationalists in Croatia and Slovenia disagreed with the Serbian vacuum power progressing and declared independence in 1991, with Bosnia quickly following suit.Croatia and Bosnia had a very high population of Serbian civilians during the time of the break from Yugoslavia. The Croatian and Bosnian Serbs established paramilitary forces and resisted the new governments in two separate civil wars. Within the first few months of these wars the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA) quickly intervened to avert the break up of the federation by assisting the Serb militia in both Croatia and Bosnia. However, the JNA was created by the old republic and had divided opinions of loyalties internally and disbanded. Non-Serbian officers and NCOs left the JNA to join forces with their home armies and thus destroying the only professional military force in Yugoslavia. With no army left and an economy on the brink of bankruptcy, Serbia withdrew all troops in Croatia and Bosnia, leaving Serbian militias to fend for themselves.
Much of the interior of the Lika
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
region of southern Croatia was captured by Krajina Serb (RSK) forces and the Serb-dominated 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) during 1991. As Croatia moved towards independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
the region saw heavy fighting throughout the summer and autumn, during which Croatian Serb rebels established the self-proclaimed (but internationally unrecognised) Republic of Serb Krajina. Almost all of the Croatian population in the Serb-held area was killed, expelled or forced to seek refuge in government held areas. Serbs continued shelling the major Croatian cities of Gospić, Zadar and Sibenik throughout the year from their positions, killing hundreds of civilians. Serious human rights violations were also perpetrated against Serbs in the Croatian government-held parts of the region, most notably the Gospić massacre
Gospic massacre
The Gospić massacre took place between 16–18 October 1991 in the town of Gospić, a city in the district of Lika in Croatia. The massacre came three days after the massacre in the village of Široka Kula...
of October 1991. In 1992 UNPROFOR entered Croatia then later Bosnia to restore the peace, act as negotiators, aid-workers and combat soldiers. A ceasefire was agreed following the fall of the town of Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
at the end of the Battle of Vukovar
Battle of Vukovar
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army , supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats,...
in November 1991 and a United Nations peacekeeping force (UNPROFOR) was installed to police the armistice lines.
Despite this, sporadic sniping and shelling continued to take place between the two sides. Gospić
Gospic
Gospić is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj county. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field....
, which was close to the front lines, was repeatedly subjected to shellfire from the Serbian Army of Krajina
Military of Serbian Krajina
* Armored Vehicles** T-34/85** T-55** T-72 ** M-84 ** PT-76** OT M-60** BVP M-80** BOV ** BRDM-2** M36 Jackson** M18 Hellcat* Artillery** M-63 Plamen** M-77 Oganj * Anti-aircraft ** ZSU-57-2** M53/59 Praga...
(SVK). The town was of great importance in securing lines of communication between Dalmatia and the rest of Croatia. Much of the shelling took place from the Serb-controlled Medak Pocket, an area of high ground near Medak, Croatia
Medak, Croatia
Medak is a village in the Lika-Senj County, Croatia. The settlement is administered as a part of the city of Gospić.According to national census of 2001, population of the settlement is 91.In 1993, Medak was the site of Operation Medak Pocket....
approximately four to five kilometres wide and five to six kilometres long which consisted of the localities of Divoselo, Čitluk and part of Počitelj plus numerous small hamlets. The pocket was primarily a rural area with a combination of forest and open fields. It was fairly lightly inhabited before the attack, with about 400 Serb civilians residing in the area and was held by units of the SVK's 15th Lika Corps.
The pocket adjoined Sector South, one of the four United Nations Protected Areas
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...
(UNPAs) in Croatia. It was not actually in the UNPA but lay just outside in a so-called "pink zone", or disputed area, patrolled by UNPROFOR peacekeepers. Prior to the Medak Pocket offensive, Croatian government forces had launched several relatively small-scale attacks to retake rebel Serb-held territory in "pink zones" at the Miljevci Plateau in June 1992 and the area of the Maslenica bridge
Operation Maslenica
In early September, 1991, during the opening stages of the Croatian War of Independence, Serb-dominated units of the Knin Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army , under the command of Colonel Ratko Mladić and supported by the ethnic Serb Krajina militia, conducted offensive operations against areas...
in northern Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
in January 1993. It has been alleged that the timing of the Maslenica
Operation Maslenica
In early September, 1991, during the opening stages of the Croatian War of Independence, Serb-dominated units of the Knin Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army , under the command of Colonel Ratko Mladić and supported by the ethnic Serb Krajina militia, conducted offensive operations against areas...
and Medak offensives was owed to the political imperatives of Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, who was facing political difficulties following Croatia's intervention in the war in Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
.
9–14 September
Croatian forces began their offensive at approximately 06:00 on 9 September 1993. The attack involved around 2,500 troops drawn from the Croatian Army's Gospić Operational Zone, including the 9th Guards Brigade, 111th Brigade, Gospić Home Guard Battalion, Lovinac Home Guard Battalion and Special Police Units of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). New Croatian and Bosnian armies were very poorly trained and had no morals condemning them to just tactics, therefore, without the knowledge and strategic abilities to target and fight victoriously against respective soldiers, the armies moved their focus and target to civilians. With no worry of how to defeat opponents in combat, and with civilians unprotected, defenseless, and an easy target, the Croatian Army honed in. With the armies already divided between race and then the focus turn from soldiers to civilians, the immoral act of ethnic cleaning quickly generated. The Croatians were largely armed with equipment captured from the Yugoslav People's ArmyYugoslav 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...
, including T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s, as well as large numbers of artillery pieces and an array of small arms.
The SVK was taken by surprise and fell back. After two days of fighting the Croatian forces had taken control of Divoselo, Čitluk and part of Počitelj. The salient was pinched out with the new front line running just in front of the village of Medak
Medak, Croatia
Medak is a village in the Lika-Senj County, Croatia. The settlement is administered as a part of the city of Gospić.According to national census of 2001, population of the settlement is 91.In 1993, Medak was the site of Operation Medak Pocket....
. In retaliation for the offensive, Serb forces began to use long-range artillery to shell the city of Karlovac
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...
and fired FROG-7
FROG-7
The 9K52 Luna-M is a Soviet short-range ballistic missile complex. The 9M21 missiles are unguided and spin-stabilized. "9K52" is its GRAU designation. Its NATO reporting name is FROG-7....
ballistic missile
Ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...
s into the Croatian capital 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...
. The attack on Karlovac was especially brutal and dozens of civilians were killed.
The SVK launched counter-attacks which retook some of the captured territory and brought the Croatian advance to a halt. It also threatened to attack 20 or 30 more targets throughout Croatia unless the captured territory was handed back. The two sides exchanged heavy artillery fire during 12–13 September, with the UN recording over 6,000 detonations in the Gospić-Medak area. On 13 and 14 September, Croatian Air Force MiG-21 aircraft attacked SVK artillery and rocket batteries in Banovina and Kordun
Kordun
The Kordun region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The southern border of Kordun touches the Lika region...
but one aircraft was shot down near Vrginmost.
Ceasefire
The offensive attracted strong international criticism and, facing political and military pressure at home and from abroad, the Croatian government agreed to a ceasefire. The United Nations commander in Croatia, General Jean Cot, arranged and mediated ceasefire discussions. On 15 September a ceasefire agreement was signed by General Mile NovakovićMile Novaković
Mile Novaković is a former Serbian major general active in the military of Serbian Krajina and in the Federal Yugoslav Army, during and after the Croatian War of Independence....
, on behalf of the Serbian side and Major-General Petar Stipetić, on behalf of the Croatian side. The agreement required the Croatian forces to withdraw to the starting lines of 9 September, and for Serb forces to withdraw from the pocket and remain withdrawn thereafter. The Croatian withdrawal was scheduled for 1200 on 15 September.
In order to oversee the withdrawal and protect local civilians, UNPROFOR sent 875 troops of the Second Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is one of the three regular force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army. The regiment is composed of four battalions including a primary reserve battalion, for a total of 2,000 soldiers...
to move into the pocket, accompanied by two French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
mechanized units. The UN forces, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Calvin, were instructed to interpose themselves between the Serb and Croatian forces.
Canadian buffer
The Canadians were among the best trained troops at UNPROFOR's disposal, making them a natural choice for this dangerous task. They were equipped with M-113M113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...
armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
s and carried a mix of M2 .50 caliber machine guns, C-6
FN MAG
The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries, and it has been made under licence in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the...
medium machine guns, C-7 assault rifles, C-9 light machine guns, and 84 mm Carl Gustav anti-tank rockets. The attached Heavy Weapons Support Company brought 81 mm mortars and a specially fitted APC armed with anti-tank guided missiles.
Croatian forces and other officials involved with the Medak Pocket Mission lost confidence in the UN’s ability due to failed attacks on forces in the zone of separation between Krajinan Serb forces. Earlier that year Croatian troops had launched an attack in order to seize a power dam and reservoir. UN forces stationed in the area quickly fled before the attacking Croats, confirming Croat beliefs that a show of force would scare away the UN soldiers. Consequently, the UN needed muscle in Sector South to rebuild its’ credibility in the eyes of many across the globe. With their ‘tough but fair’ reputation the Canadian Battalion 2PPCLI was sent from North near Zagreb to Krajinan region in Southern Croatia, near the Dalmatian Coast territory.
The UN forces subsequently took control of abandoned Serbian positions but again came under fire from the Croatian lines, with the attackers using rocket propelled grenade
Rocket propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable while others are single-use. RPGs, with the exception of...
s and anti-aircraft guns. The UN troops then dug in their positions and returned fire. As night fell the Croatians attempted several flanking manoeuvres but the Canadians responded with sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
fire against the Croatian infantry. The French used 20 mm cannon fire to suppress Croatian heavy weapons. Although this destroyed only a few of the heavy weapons, the aggressive UN response convinced the Croatians to only use their strongest weapons sporadically. They did not deploy their most powerful weapons, such as their tanks, apparently fearing that the UN would use anti-tank missiles and air support against them. The Croatian commander, Rahim Ademi, upon realizing that his forces had reached a stalemate, met with the Canadian commander and agreed to a ceasefire where his troops would withdraw by noon the next day.
When the deadline passed, Canadian forces attempted to cross the Croatian lines, but were stopped at a mined and well-defended roadblock. Unwilling to fight his way through, Calvin instead held an impromptu media conference with the roadblock as a backdrop, telling 20 or so international journalists that Croatian forces clearly had something to hide. The Croatian high command, realizing they had a public relations disaster on their hands, quickly moved back to their lines held on 9 September. The withdrawal was finally verified as having been completed by 18:00 on 17 September, bringing the offensive to an end.
The advancing Canadian forces discovered that the Croat army had destroyed almost all of the Serb buildings, razing them to the ground. In the burning wrecks they found 16 mutilated corpses. The Canadians expected to find many survivors hiding in the woods, but no Serb was found alive. Rubber surgical gloves littered the area, suggesting a clean-up operation. Everything was recorded and handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The evidence helped convince the ICTY to issue an indictment in 2001 against Ademi, charging him with crimes against humanity.
Calvin, the Canadian commander, later reported that "27 of [the Croatian Army's] members were killed or wounded during the fire fights with my battle group during the 14 days in Medak". Even though the operation was considered a success, due to the emerging Somalia Affair
Somalia Affair
The Somalia Affair was a 1993 military scandal later dubbed "Canada's national shame". It peaked with the brutal beating death of a Somali teenager at the hands of two Canadian soldiers participating in humanitarian efforts in Somalia. The crime, documented by grisly photos, shocked the Canadian...
, the clash was not highly publicized at the time. The true memorial heroes of the Medak Pocket incident were the Canadian Peacekeepers. Canadians are trained to deal with foreign population and authorities, have to deal with conflicting parties as a non-enemy participant with knowledge and the caution that one side would become the enemy. Canadians are also taught how to deal with human rights violations, especially those that many Canadians had to face in the Medak Pocket where ethnic cleansing occurred. Most importantly they have an advanced knowledge and skill for the operational knowledge of law and armed conflict.
Most recognizable and honoured event of the Canadian troops during the Medak Pocket was their ability to immediately back down when Croatian forces ceased-fire. Canadians reverted to their role as impartial peacekeepers. Canadian forces recognized that regular armies which are usually well disciplined, trained and respected the chain of command, irregular officers are often ignorant to the respected rules of combat.
Calvin's report that 27 of the Croatian Army's members were killed or wounded is, according to Calvin, based on "Croatian reports", and not on his own data.
The French Lieutenant-General Jean Cot, who was in charge of the operation and Calvin's superior officer, backs up the Canadian account of what happened and says:
Croatian denial
In 2002 the Croatian newspaper NacionalNacional (weekly)
Nacional is a Croatian weekly newsmagazine published in Zagreb.-History:Nacional was started in 1995 by Denis Kuljiš, Ivo Pukanić and other journalists dissatisfied with the editorial policies of Croatian weekly newspaper Globus. Both publications were hostile to the ruling HDZ government...
published a report claiming that "the armed conflict between the Croatian and Canadian forces in operation Medak Pocket from 9 to 17 September 1993 never happened" and that the Canadians had fired "no more than a couple of shots into the night." Retired Croatian general Davor Domazet-Loso, in an effort to defend his fellow Croatian generals fighting ICTY crimes against humanity charges, suggested Canadian troops fought Serb not Croat fighters. This was strongly denied by the Canadian Department of National Defence
Department of National Defence (Canada)
The Department of National Defence , frequently referred to by its acronym DND, is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for all matters concerning the defence of Canada...
, the Canadian Commander at the time, retired Col. Jim Calvin, and decorated Canadian Army veterans who served at Medak. For their part, the Croatian authorities, both civil and military, during the aftermath of the skirmish with the UN forces and in the years that followed, have never admitted that any serious battle with the UNPROFOR forces in the Medak area ever occurred and claim that the Canadian forces' version of events is politically motivated.
Radio 101
Radio 101 (Croatia)
Radio 101 - Independent radio station, with alternative and latest music and breaking news in Croatia. It broadcasts from Zagreb and has a regional license for the City of Zagreb and the Zagreb County, an audience of about 1,200,000 people. It is one of the most popular radio stations in Zagreb...
reported the testimony of a UN officer, Danish colonel Vagn Ove Moebjerg Nielsen, a witness at the Norac/Ademi trial for war crimes in Medak Pocket. Colonel Nielsen, who was not present during the Medak Pocket offensive, reportedly stated that in September 1993, except for one minor incident, there was no armed conflict between Croatian soldiers and the "blue helmets".
Canadian Denial
In Canada, the event has been referred to as "Canada's secret battle", while in Croatia this event is denied. The Canadian Government sought to downplay and write off the Canadian involvement in the Medak Pocket. The idea of writing off a piece of history is a dangerous notion. The Medak Pocket largely shaped the Canadian Army’s understanding of, “killing for peace.” The Medak Pocket challenged the skill and discipline of the Canadian soldiers. The ability Canadians had to revert from combat soldiers to peacekeepers is a rare and highly respected standard of military practice. By not telling the Canadian public about what had occurred in Medak creates a problem in two ways. The first is the effects denial has on the soldiers; a country that is ashamed of its soldiers actions will thus second guess their bravery and the value of their efforts. The second issue of downplaying Canadian role in Medak was the realization and fear of Canada’s policy and abandonment of a “peacekeeping” heritage. Many Canadians are unaware of the role their soldiers have in the world to restore, stabilize and change law and order in countries where it does not exist. Canadians easily can get confused with their role in other countries i.e. Afghanistan, and cannot comprehend how soldiers can be equally “warfighters, conflict negotiators and peacekeepers.”War crimes investigations
The UN immediately began an investigation into the events at Medak. The task was hampered by the systematic destruction that had been carried out by the withdrawing Croatians. The UN forces found that (in the words of an official Canadian study on the incident) "each and every building in the Medak Pocket had been leveled to the ground", in a total of eleven villages and hamlets.Investigators from the 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) determined that at least 100 Serb civilians had been unlawfully killed and many others had suffered serious injuries; many of the victims were women and elderly people. 29 executed Serb civilians have been identified, as well as five Serb soldiers who had been captured or wounded. More were thought to have been killed, but the bodies were said to have been removed or destroyed by the Croatians. In addition, Serb-owned property was systematically looted and destroyed to render the area uninhabitable. Personal belongings, household goods, furniture, housing items, farm animals, farm machinery and other equipment were looted or destroyed, and wells were polluted to make them unusable. An estimated 164 homes and 148 barns and outbuildings were burned down or blown up. Much of the destruction was said to have taken place during the 48 hours between the ceasefire being signed and the withdrawal being completed.
The US Department of State claimed that Croatian forces destroyed 11 Serbian villages and killed at least 67 individuals, including civilians.
Several members of the Croatian military were subsequently charged with war crimes. The highest-ranking indictee was General Janko Bobetko
Janko Bobetko
Janko Bobetko was a Croatian Army general and Chief of the General Staff during the Croatian War of Independence from 1992 until his retirement in 1995. Bobetko had been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia but died before he could be tried...
. He was indicted for war crimes by the ICTY in 2001, but died before the case was heard by the court, and in consequence the trial was cancelled.
The wider area was under the jurisdiction of the Gospić Military District, commanded at the time by Brigadier Rahim Ademi
Rahim Ademi
Rahim Ademi is a Croatian Army general of Kosovo-Albanian origin.Born and raised in the village of Karač, Vučitrn, SFR Yugoslavia, now found in Kosovo. Ademi finished the Yugoslav military academy in Belgrade in 1976...
. He was also indicted by the ICTY and was transferred there in 2001. In 2004, General Mirko Norac
Mirko Norac
Mirko Norac is a former general of the Croatian Army. In 2003 he became the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court after he was transferred from The Hague...
– who was already serving a 12-year jail sentence in Croatia for his role in the Gospić massacre
Gospic massacre
The Gospić massacre took place between 16–18 October 1991 in the town of Gospić, a city in the district of Lika in Croatia. The massacre came three days after the massacre in the village of Široka Kula...
– was also indicted and transferred to The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. The two cases were joined in July 2004 and in November 2005 the Tribunal agreed to a Croatian government request to transfer the case back to Croatia, for trial before a Croatian court.
The trial of Mirko Norac
Mirko Norac
Mirko Norac is a former general of the Croatian Army. In 2003 he became the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court after he was transferred from The Hague...
and Rahim Ademi
Rahim Ademi
Rahim Ademi is a Croatian Army general of Kosovo-Albanian origin.Born and raised in the village of Karač, Vučitrn, SFR Yugoslavia, now found in Kosovo. Ademi finished the Yugoslav military academy in Belgrade in 1976...
began at the Zagreb County Court in June 2007 and resulted in a seven year sentence for Norac for failing to stop his soldiers killing Serbs (28 civilians and 5 prisoners) and acquittal for Ademi.
Aftermath
After the offensive, most of the villages in the area were destroyed and depopulated. Even today, the region is still largely abandoned, though some Serbs have since returned to it. The region remained, in effect, neutral ground between the warring sides until near the end of the war. It was recaptured by the Croatian Army on 4 August 1995 during Operation StormOperation 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...
, which ended in the defeat of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina.
The Medak Pocket offensive can be considered a tactical victory for the Croats in that it reduced the Serb threat against Gospić and permanently eliminated the possibility of splitting Croatia in half as had been planned. The goal having been achieved, the Croatian Army did not, at the time, press any further since the geopolitical and strategic situation was not ideal for a major offensive to fully control the region. The offensive also exposed serious weaknesses in the Croatian Army's command, control, and communications, which had also been a problem in Operation Maslenica
Operation Maslenica
In early September, 1991, during the opening stages of the Croatian War of Independence, Serb-dominated units of the Knin Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army , under the command of Colonel Ratko Mladić and supported by the ethnic Serb Krajina militia, conducted offensive operations against areas...
earlier in the year.
The operation caused serious political difficulties for the Croatian government, which was heavily criticised abroad for its actions at Medak. The well-publicised accusations of war crimes, along with the Muslim-Croat bloodshed in Bosnia, led to Croatia's image being severely tarnished; in many quarters abroad, the country was viewed as having moved from being a victim to an aggressor. It also provided a major propaganda boost for the Serbian side.
The war crimes committed during the operation damaged the credibility of UNPROFOR as well, as its forces had been unable to prevent them despite being in the vicinity at the time. Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...
, the UN Secretary-General, admitted that
- "The 9 September 1993 Croatian destruction of three villages in the Medak pocket has, despite the robust action taken by UNPROFOR to secure the withdrawal of Croatian forces, further increased the mistrust of the Serbs towards UNPROFOR and has led to the reaffirmation of their refusal to disarm. In turn, this refusal to disarm, as required in the United Nations peace-keeping plan, has prevented UNPROFOR from implementing other essential elements of the plan, particularly facilitating the return of refugees and displaced persons to their places of origins in secure conditions."
The 2nd Battalion, PPCLI, was later awarded the Commander-in-Chief's Commendation for its actions in the Medak Pocket, the first Canadian unit ever presented this unit commendation.
External links
- Case Study - The Medak Pocket by Miroslav Međimorec
- ICTY - Indictment of General Rahim Ademi
- ICTY - Indictment of General Janko Bobetko
- The Medak investigation from the final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts United Nations investigation
- List of additional resources by Miroslav Međimorec
- Opinion of USA Department of State for this matter (Testimony of physician and Croatian Army colonel Marko Jagetić at the 2007 Medak Pocket trial)
- PPCLI website