Non-fatal injuries 214 Non-fatal injuries 214 | Dates 2 May 1995 – 3 May 1995 Total number of deaths 7 | |
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Perpetrators Military of Serbian Krajina Perpetrator Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina Similar Operation Tiger, Battle of Borovo Selo, Battle of Osijek, Battle of the Barracks, Plitvice Lakes incident | ||
Zagreb rocket attacks 2 3 may 1995
The Zagreb rocket attacks were a series of two rocket attacks conducted by Serb armed forces that used multiple rocket launchers to strike the Croatian capital of Zagreb during the Croatian War of Independence. The attack killed seven and wounded over 200 Croatian civilians and was carried out on 2 May and 3 May 1995 as retaliation for the Croatian army's offensive in Operation Flash. The rocket attacks deliberately targeted civilian locations. Zagreb was the largest of several cities hit by the attack. It was the only instance in the entire war in Croatia that cluster bombs were used in combat.
Contents
- Zagreb rocket attacks 2 3 may 1995
- Introduction
- Strikes
- Aftermath
- War crimes charges by the ICTY
- References
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) characterized the attack as a crime against humanity and convicted Croatian Serb leader Milan Martić of ordering the attack.
Introduction
During the early part of the war, the Croatian capital Zagreb was spared from devastation, as it was far from the frontlines. Serb General Milan Čeleketić announced to the press on 24 March 1995, more than a month prior to the attack, that should a Croatian offensive be launched, he expected to respond by targeting the "weak points," that is, "the parks of the Croatian cities" and added: "We know who the people in the parks are; civilians."
In May 1995 Croatia launched Operation Flash, which recaptured the area of western Slavonia (UNPA sector West) that had been under Serb control since 1991. In neighboring Bosnia, the leader of the Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, threatened to send help to the Serbs in Croatia. Following the rapid collapse of the Serb defence in the area, Serb leader Milan Martić ordered Serb rocket artillery units in the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina to fire missiles on the capital of Zagreb. Karlovac and Sisak were also subjected to retaliatory attacks.
The Yugoslav-produced Orkan 262 mm Multiple rocket launchers (MRL) fires M-87 non-guided missiles. The ones fired against Zagreb were armed with aviation cluster bomb warheads (called cassette bombs or Jinglebell), each of which contains 288 "bomblets" (smaller ammunition) which are ejected at a height of 1,000 meters above the target area. Upon impact, each bomblet explodes and releases 420 pellets, the lethal range of each of which is ten meters. This means that each rocket releases around 120,000 of these pellets, which have been characterized as designed specifically to kill or maim local infantry.
Strikes
On 1 May, a meeting was held between leaders of the RSK. Although negotiations were on-going, Martić and Čeleketić were not in favor of a peaceful solution. At 1 pm on 1 May, Milan Čeleketić ordered, with Martić present, an artillery barrage on Sisak which was opened at 5 pm that day. On the same day, an M-87 Orkan rocket artillery unit from Knin was redeployed to Vojnić (about 50 km south of Zagreb).
The first attack occurred on 2 May, at 10:25 in the morning. At the time, many civilians were in the streets. The targets hit included the Strossmayer promenade, Petrinjska street and Vlaška street where a tram full of passengers was hit. The Classical Gymnasium in Zagreb located in the city centre was also hit, as were Pleso and its airport. In total, five civilians were killed and 146 injured.
The second attack occurred the following day, at 12:10 in the afternoon. The children's hospital in Klaićeva street, the Croatian National Theatre building (which housed Russian, Ukrainian and British ballet dancers at the time, some of whom were wounded) and the Courthouse at Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square were among those hit.
Two civilians were killed that day and 48 injured, which were less than the day before due to many people avoiding public areas following the first attack. Most of the missiles targeted the city center and surrounding streets, which were most likely to be filled with civilians in the morning. In total, seven people were killed and at about 200 injured (of which about 100 seriously) from these attacks.
Aftermath
On 3 May, Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia at the time, instructed Yugoslav Army Chief of the General Staff Momčilo Perišić to call Čeleketić and forbid further strikes against Zagreb.
After 4 May and the end of Operation Flash, United Nations Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi met with Martić and condemned him for the attack. Martić then threatened to resume the attacks and spoke of "massive rocket attacks on Zagreb which would leave 100,000 people dead."
On 10 October 2013, a cluster bomb which failed to detonate was discovered on the roof of the Klaićeva children's hospital, 18 years after the attacks. After surgery on several patients had been completed, the Zagreb police bomb disposal squad was given clearance to detonate the ordnance. No one was injured in the detonation.
In May 2013, city mayor Mr. Milan Bandić opened a museum in Petrićeva st. dedicated to the tragedy.
War crimes charges by the ICTY
Immediately following the attacks, Martić appeared on Serb television and publicly boasted about ordering the attacks. This video was later used against him during his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after he was indicted for war crimes. The attack on Zagreb was one of the main points of the indictment against him, to which he confessed, but claimed it was a "legitimate action against the enemy". On 12 June 2007, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Perišić, was also indicted for his role in the rocket attack. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison because the judges ruled that he had effective control over the SVK commanders since he issued orders to them and initiated disciplinary proceedings against them; therefore he was responsible for the failure to punish those who launched the rockets on Zagreb. In February 2013, Perišić was acquitted on all counts and released upon appealing his conviction.