The operation “Madak Pocket” ( Croatian Operacija “Medački džep” , Serb. Operation “Medachki Kep” ) was carried out by the Croatian army in order to liquidate the “Medak Pocket” - the territory of the Republika Srpska Krajina wedged into the territory of Croatia south of Gospic . As a result of the operation, the Croatian army took control of the Serbian villages of Divoselo, Chitluk and Pochitel.
| Operation Medak Pocket | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The war in Croatia | ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Parties | ||||||||
 Croatia |  UNPROFOR•  Ppcli |  Republika Srpska Krajina | ||||||
| Commanders | ||||||||
| Yanko Bobetko Raheem Ademi Mirko Norats | Jim Calvin | Mile Novakovich | ||||||
| Forces of the parties | ||||||||
| Over 2500 soldiers Tanks M-84 Artillery | 875 peacekeepers | 800 soldiers 70 tanks | ||||||
| Losses | ||||||||
| 10 to 27 killed 84 injured | 4 injured | 71 killed | ||||||
| Civilian casualties | ||||||||
| 29 killed [1] | ||||||||
Under pressure from the international community, the operation of the Croatian forces was discontinued, and the Croatian units returned to the positions they held until 9 September . The territory of the "Medak pocket" was occupied by UN peacekeeping forces , consisting of units of the Canadian light infantry regiment "Princess Patricia" and two French motorized infantry companies. Although the Canadian authorities tried not to advertise this, information leaked that during the operation, Croatian forces tried to impede the entry of peacekeepers and periodically engaged in clashes with the Canadian peacekeeping contingent. Without losing a single person (4 Canadian peacekeepers were injured), UN forces caused significant damage to the attacking Croatian soldiers - 27 of those were killed [2] [3] .
ICTY Accusations of Operation Leaders
In 2001 - 2003 The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has brought charges against the leaders of the operation - Generals Janko Bobetko [1] , Rakhim Ademi [4] and Mirko Norats [5] . The essence of the charges was that they did not stop the atrocities of the soldiers and officers of the Croatian army subordinate to them against the civilian Serbian population (the so-called " team responsibility ").
The trial of General Bobetko was terminated due to his death in Zagreb on April 29, 2003 [6] . The cases of Ademi and Noraca were referred by the ICTY to the Croatian court [7] . As a result, Rahim Ademi was completely acquitted, while Mirko Norats, who was already serving a 12-year prison sentence for war crimes committed by him in Gospic in 1991 , was sentenced to another 7 years in prison [8] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 ICTY: Initial Indictment against Janko Bobetko ( PDF , 52.8 KB )
- ↑ Ionov Alexander Alekseevich. Essays on the military history of the conflict in Yugoslavia (1991-1995). Operations "Shrovetide" and "Medak Pocket": an undeclared war against Serbian Krajina . Artofwar.ru. Date of treatment September 27, 2017. Archived February 4, 2012.
- ↑ Lee Windsor. "Professionalism Under Fire" (inaccessible link) . The Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin ( Canadian Forces Land Force Command ) (2001). Date of treatment September 27, 2017. Archived December 25, 2012.
- ↑ ICTY: Initial Indictment against Rahim Ademi
- ↑ ICTY: Initial Indictment against Mirko Norac (English)
- ↑ ICTY: Order Terminating Proceedings Against Janko Bobetko
- ↑ ICTY: Ademi and Norac Case Referred to Croatia ( PDF , 46.9 KB )
- ↑ Lenta.ru: Croatian general convicted of war crimes (Russian)