page_title: Battle of Šibenik
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Šibenik / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: St. Jacobuskathedraal in Sibenik
context_page_description: The Battle of Šibenik, also known as the September War, was an armed conflict fought between the Yugoslav People's Army, supported by the Croatian Serb-established Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina, and the Croatian National Guard, supported by the Croatian Police. The battle was fought to the north and west of the city of Šibenik, Croatia on 16–22 September 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The JNA's initial orders were to relieve Croatian siege of their barracks in the city and isolate the region of Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia. The JNA's advance was supported by the Yugoslav Air Force and the Yugoslav Navy.
  Fighting stopped following a Croatian counter-attack that pushed the JNA back from the outskirts of Šibenik. Although some ground was lost to the Yugoslavs, especially around the town of Drniš, northeast of Šibenik, the ZNG captured several JNA and Yugoslav Navy facilities in the city, including dozens of navy vessels and several coastal artillery batteries. The captured batteries were used to support defence of the city.
context_section_description: The JNA was defeated in the battle, subsequently nicknamed the "September War" (Rujanski rat). Its total losses in the battle were not reported. The ZNG and the Croatian police sustained losses of three killed and 49 wounded troops in the battle. At the same time seven civilians were killed and 64 wounded. JNA artillery continued intermittent bombardment of Šibenik over the following 100 days resulting in further casualties and damage. The damaged structures included the Cathedral of St. James, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An editorial in The New York Times labeled bombardment of the cathedral as a part of the "calculated assaults" on treasures of Croatia. During the fighting, electrical substations in Bilice and Konjsko were destroyed, disrupting electric power distribution in Dalmatia.
  Evacuation of the JNA facilities and surrender of the confiscated Territorial Defence weapons stored in the Šibenik–Split area was agreed on 21 November. Throughout the process, tensions remained high, and the JNA made contingency plans to break through from Knin to Šibenik and Split to relieve the siege of its forces there—codenamed Operation Coast-91 (Operacija Obala-91) and Operation Hurricane-91 (Operacija Orkan-91) respectively. All of the JNA facilities in Šibenik, along with the confiscated Territorial Defence weapons, were handed over to the Croatian authorities by 10 December.
  News coverage of the battle produced television footage of ZNG air defence artillery at Zečevo firing at a Yugoslav Air Force Soko J-21 Jastreb and scoring a hit on another J-21 using a guided missile. The footage, ending in shouts claiming that both of the planes were downed, became one of the most significant pieces of material in terms of propaganda and morale in Croatia. Nonetheless, the footage proved controversial, since the first plane is not shown falling to the ground or into the sea, but diving towards the horizon after giving away a puff of smoke – variously interpreted as smoke caused by the plane's cannon fire or anti-aircraft fire damage. While the first J-21 downing remains unconfirmed, the second J-21, piloted by Croat Valter Juršić of the 240th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron, was shot down by Neven Livajić using a 9K38 Igla and wreckage of the plane was retrieved.
  Another controversy which arose in the aftermath of the battle pertains to the Žirje Island coastal artillery battery. Extent of the role played by the battery was disputed between Brigadier General Rahim Ademi, who claimed the bridge was beyond range of the guns, and thirteen ZNG and police officers, who held various posts in Šibenik at the time, who claimed Ademi was wrong in his assessment. After the war, the guns were removed from Žirje. As of 2010 two were refurbished in preparation for return to Žirje, as museum exhibits.
  The battle is commemorated annually in Šibenik each September. There are two documentary films covering Šibenik and its surroundings during the battle: My city will be happy too (I moj će grad biti sretan) by Matea Šarić and September War 1991, Šibenik–Vodice (Rujanski rat 1991. Šibenik–Vodice) by Šime Strikoman.
caption: Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik sustained artillery damage in September 1991
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