Battles of Glina (1991)

Battle of the Croatian War of Independence

Battle for Glina in 1991

Part of the Croatian War of Independence

Glina

Location of Glina in Croatia
| Date| First battle: 26 June 1991
Second battle: 26 July 1991

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Location|

Glina, Croatia

Result|  SAO Krajina victory in both battles
Belligerents
SAO Krajina
Supported by:
Yugoslavia|  Croatia
Commanders and leaders
Dragan Vasiljković
Bojan Drobnjak|  Tomislav Rom †
Ivan Šantek (WIA)
Units involved

Yugoslav People's Army

* Yugoslav Ground Forces

Krajina Territorial Defense
Kninjas|  Croatian National Guard
Croatian Police
Strength
28–29 soldiers & volunteers|  600–650 soldiers and police officers
Casualties and losses
Unofficial estimate:
2 killed and 1 wounded|  Unknown

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* t
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Croatian War
of Independence

1991

* Pakrac
* Plitvice Lakes
* Borovo Selo
* Zadar riot
* Split protest
* Sisak
* Topusko
* Stinger
* Glina
* Hrvatska Kostajnica
* Kijevo
* Labrador
* Banija villages
* Vukovar
* Massacre
* Brđani
* Osijek
* Gospić
* Massacre
* Petrinja
* Kusonje
* Korana bridge
* The Barracks
* Varaždin
* Bjelovar
* Zadar
* Šibenik
* JNA campaign
* Dubrovnik
* Cerić
* Banski Dvori
* Slunj
* Široka Kula
* Lovas
* Bogdanovci
* Ernestinovo
* Baćin
* Barcs
* Saborsko
* Libertas convoy
* Požega
* Swath 10
* Erdut
* Dalmatian channels
* Kostrići
* Škabrnja
* Massacre
* Antunovac
* Vance plan
* Whirlwind
* Paulin Dvor
* Gornje Jame
* Orkan 91
* Voćin
* Joševica
* Devil's Beam
* Bruška
* Vrsar airport

1992

* Sarajevo
* ECMM helicopter downing
* Baranja
* Jackal
* Miljevci Plateau
* Tiger
* Liberated Land
* Konavle
* Vlaštica

1993

* Maslenica
* Steel '93
* Medak Pocket
* Rain
* Angela

1994

* Winter '94

1995

* Leap 1
* Flash
* Medari
* Zagreb
* Leap 2
* Summer '95
* Storm
* Komić
* Kijani
* Golubić
* Uzdolje
* Bosanski Petrovac bombing
* Dvor
* Grubori
* Gošić
* Maestral 2
* Una
* Varivode

* Timeline of all major events
* Log Revolution
* Events in Serbia

The Battle for Glina was an armed conflict between a Knindža unit supported by the JNA against the joint forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Army. Two battles were fought in Glina and both ended in serbian victories as they managed to capture of the police station, which became part of SAO Krajina.[1]

## Background

[edit]

In January 1991, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Srpska Krajina was founded, which sought to unite all police stations that were not under the control of the authorities in Zagreb.[2]

For this reason, a message was sent to the police stations in Knin, Obrovac, Benkovac, Gračac, Donji Lapac, Titova Korenica, Dvor, Glina, Kostajnica and Vojnić that they have joined the Interior Ministry of SAO Krajina. As these were towns with a Serb ethnic majority population, the subordination to the authorities in Knin was mostly voluntary.[3]

## Course of the Battles

[edit]

### First battle

[edit]

The first clashes in Glina took place on June 26 of 1991. During these clashes, an infantry group of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) arrived in town while the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), held the entire region around Glina, according to the statements of Dragan Vasiljković which were also indirectly confirmed by Croatian sources.[2] In short-lived skirmishes, one Croatian policeman was killed, Tomislav Rom, and another one was wounded, Ivan Šantek.[2] The Croatian policemen were offered to leave the town and go towards Jukinac. After this retreat, the Serb forces marched towards the Glina police station and occupied it.[4]

### Second battle

[edit]

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Exactly a month after the first battle, on July 26 of 1991, a group of 21 Kninjas under the command of Dragan Vasiljković entered the city, and with them eight more volunteers. According to the statements of Vasiljković, they came to the reconnaissance and had no idea how many members of the Croatian forces were there, otherwise they would not have attacked the city if they had known that there were between 600 and 650.[5] These volunteers managed to agree with the lieutenant of the JNA, Bojan Drobnjak, that provide them with tank support in the event of an attack on Croatian positions.[6]

The attack on the Croatian positions began, but tank support was absent as Drobnjak and his tank were moved to a new position. However, he managed to fire 4 rockets at the positions of the Croatian forces. It probably had a psychological effect on the Croatian forces leaving their positions and going towards Jukinac, then Gornji and Donji Viduševac , and then completely leaving that territory.[7]

In the short-lived battle, two Serbian volunteers were killed, and one member of the Knindža unit was wounded. Glina remained part of the SAO Krajina until August 6 of 1995 when it was captured during Operation Storm.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis. 2002. p. 93\. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
2. ^ a b c "'We watched on television how the Parliament proclaimed the independence of Croatia, and the next day they attacked us'". Vecernji list (in Croatian). 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
3. ^ Publications, Europa (1999). Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, 1999. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-85743-058-5.
4. ^ Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis. 2002. p. 234\. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
5. ^ "Captain Dragan - We won the battle for Glina". ktv.rs (in Serbian). 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
6. ^ Rupić, Marko, ed. (2007). Republika Hrvatska i Domovinski rat 1990. – 1995. – Dokumenti, Knjiga 1 [The Republic of Croatia and the Croatian War of Independence 1990–1995 – Documents, volume 1] (PDF). Zagreb, Croatia: Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog rata. ISBN 978-953-7439-03-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-26. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
7. ^ "June 26, 1991 – the bloody war on Banovina began with the attack on Glina". narod.hr (in Croatian). 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2024-05-19.

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