Operation Maslenica

Part of the Croatian War of Independence

Date	January 22 – February 1, 1993
Location	Maslenica, Croatia
Result	Croatian tactical victory

Belligerents

Croatia

Serbian Krajina

Commanders and leaders

Janko Bobetko
Agim Çeku

Željko Ražnatović
Veljko Milanković (DOW)

Strength

10,000

8,500

Casualties and losses

114 soldiers killed

348 people, including 35 women and 3 children (Serbian sources)

490 soldiers killed (Croatian sources)

348 people, including 35 women and 3 children (Serbian sources)

Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar and Maslenica Bay, allowing a secure land route between Dalmatia and northern Croatia to be opened. While an undoubted net Croatian tactical success (the frontlines shifted in Croatian favour, and Serb military losses far exceeded those of the Croatians), the operation was only a moderate strategic success, and was condemned by the UN Security Council.

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 (JNA), under the command of Colonel Ratko Mladić and supported by the ethnic Serb Krajina militia, conducted offensive operations against areas under the Croatian government's control in Northwestern Dalmatia. Despite vigorous resistance, nascent, inexperienced and poorly armed units of the Croatian Army, police and local militias succumbed to superior force and had to abandon their positions, including the strategically important Maslenica area, the site of a key bridge connecting Dalmatia with the rest of Croatia.

Fighting continued in subsequent months, during which the JNA and Krajina Serbs managed to gradually expand territories under their control and even threaten the major urban centre of Zadar. The Maslenica bridge was blown up in November by the Serb forces.

In January, 1992, the Sarajevo armistice and the arrival of UNPROFOR solidified battle lines into the boundary between Croatian government control and the self-proclaimed RSK (Republic of Serb Krajina). Although this provided months of relative peace to citizens of Croatian-controlled Dalmatia, the situation proved to be untenable in the long run, because the region was severed from the rest of the country, despite nominally having a land link. The usual land routes through Bosnia, Lika and Dalmatia were controlled by the Serbs both in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This forced traffic and commerce to use ferryboat services and bridges connecting Pag island and mainland Dalmatia, which were often affected by bad weather. The Pag Bridge was also damaged by the JNA air force in 1991, causing doubts about its long-term use. Furthermore, the Serb army also controlled the Peruća hydroelectric dam near Sinj and threatened its destruction, which could have flooded the Cetina valley, leaving Dalmatia without power.

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Wikipedia