Zagreb rocket attack

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Zagreb rocket attack
One of the fatalities: a woman lying on the cross of Vlaška and Draškovićeva streets
Location	Zagreb, Croatia
Date	May 2-May 3, 1995
Attack type	Artillery rocket attack
Weapon(s)	Orkan 262mm Multiple rocket launcher armed with cluster bombs
Deaths	7
Injured	175+
Perpetrator(s)	Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina

Croatian War of Independence

Plitvice Lakes – Borovo Selo – Dalmatia – Vukovar (Battle, Massacre) – The Barracks – Dubrovnik – Lovas – Široka Kula – Gospić – Saborsko – Baćin – Otkos 10 – Škabrnja – Orkan 91 – Voćin – Miljevci – Maslenica – Medak Pocket – Flash – Zagreb – Summer '95 – Storm

The Zagreb rocket attack was a series of two artillery attacks conducted by Serb armed forces that fired ground-to-ground missiles on the Croatian capital of Zagreb. The attack killed 7^[1] and wounded at least 175 Croat civilians and was carried out on May 2 and May 3, 1995 as a retaliation for military defeat in Operation Flash and deliberately targeted civilian locations. Zagreb was the largest of several cities hit by the attack.

1 Intro
2 The bombings
3 Aftermath
4 The Hague
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Intro

During the early part of the war, Croatian capital of Zagreb was spared from devastation, as it was far from the frontlines.

Serb General Milan Čeleketić announced to the press on March 24, 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."^[2]

In May 1995, Croatia launched Operation Flash which recaptured the area of western Slavonia (UNPA sector West), under Serb control since 1991. 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 262mm Multiple rocket launchers (MRL) fires M-87 non-guided missiles. The ones fired against Zagreb were armed with cluster bomb warheads (called cassette bombs or Jinglebell), each of which contains 288 "bomblets" (smaller projectiles) which are ejected at a height of 1,000 meters above the target area. Upon impact, each bomblet explodes and releases 420 steel pellets, the lethal range of each is ten meters. This means that each rocket releases around 120,000 of these pellets,^[3] which have been characterized as designed to specifically kill people.

[edit] The bombings

A wounded on Ribnjak street

The M-87 "Orkan" MLRS

On May 1, 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 p.m. on May 1, Milan Čeleketić ordered, with Milan Martić present, an artillery fire on Sisak which was opened at 5 p.m. that day. On the same day, M-87 Orkan unit from Knin was redeployed to Vojnić (about 50 km south of Zagreb).^[3]

The first attack occurred on May 2, at 10:25 hrs 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. One school in the center was also hit. Pleso and its airport were also hit. In total, five civilians were killed.

The second attack occurred the following day, at 12:10 hrs. The children's hospital in Klaić street and the Croatian National Theatre building (which housed foreign performers at the time, some of which were wounded) were among those hit. Casualties on the second attack were lighter, because the streets were largely avoided on the second day, so only two civilians were killed.

Most missiles targeted the city center and surrounding streets, which were most likely to be filled with civilians. Targets hit included children hospital in Klaićeva street, court house in Nikola Šubić Zrinski square and Croatian National Theatre

In total, 7 were killed and at least 175 injured (of these about 100 seriously) from these attacks.

[edit] Aftermath

After May 4 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."^[3]

In August of the same year, Croatian forces launched Operation Storm, displacing Serb forces from positions in range of Zagreb and other cities in Croatia. Despite this, other cities in Croatia were subject to artillery shelling from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serb-held Slavonia until the Dayton Agreement at the end of the year.

[edit] The Hague

Immediately following the attacks, Milan Martić appeared on Serb television and publicly bragged about ordering the assault. This video was later used against him during his trial at ICTY after he was indicted for war crimes.^[4] 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 June 12, 2007, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.^[3]