Battle of Zadar The Battle of Zadar ( ) was an military engagement fought between the Yugoslav People ' s Army ( " Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija " – JNA ) supported by the Croatian Serb Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina ( SAO Krajina ) and the Croatian National Guard ( " Zbor Narodne Garde " – ZNG ) supported by the Croatian Police . The battle was fought north and east of the city of Zadar , Croatia , in the second half of September and early October 1991 , during the Croatian War of Independence . The JNA ' s initial orders were to lift the Croatian siege of the JNA ' s barracks in the city and isolate the region of Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia , but the orders were later amended during the battle to include the capture of the Port of Zadar , located in the city ' s centre . The JNA ' s advance was supported by the Yugoslav Air Force and the Yugoslav Navy . The fighting stopped on 5 October , when a cease - fire agreement was concluded by the belligerents , after the JNA had reached the outskirts of Zadar and completely blocked all land routes to the city . The subsequent negotiations resulted in a partial withdrawal of the JNA , restoring road access to Zadar via the Adriatic Highway , and the evacuation of JNA facilities located in the city . The JNA completed a part of its stated objectives . While it denied the use of the Maslenica Bridge to Croatia , thus interdicting the last overland route between the Croatian capital of Zagreb and Zadar , a route via Pag Island remained available , although that transport route relied on the use of a ferry . The JNA Zadar garrison was evacuated through the negotiations , but the ZNG captured several relatively small JNA posts in the city . The port was never captured by the JNA , although it was blockaded by the Yugoslav Navy . The September – October fighting caused 34 civilian deaths in the city of Zadar , all of whom were killed by artillery bombardment . Afterwards , Croatia charged 19 JNA officers involved in the offensive with war crimes against civilian population . They were tried and convicted " in absentia " and sentenced to prison . Background . In 1990 , following the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia , ethnic tensions between Croats and the Croatian Serbs worsened . The Yugoslav People ' s Army ( " Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija " – JNA ) confiscated Croatia ' s Territorial Defence ( " Teritorijalna obrana " – TO ) weapons to minimize resistance . On 17 August , the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs , centred on the predominantly Serb - populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin , parts of the Lika , Kordun , Banovina and Slavonia . After two unsuccessful attempts by Serbia , supported by Montenegro and Serbia ' s provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo , to obtain the Yugoslav Presidency ' s approval for a JNA operation to disarm Croatian security forces in January 1991 , and a bloodless skirmish between Serb insurgents and Croatian special police in March , the JNA itself , supported by Serbia and its allies , asked the federal Presidency to give it wartime powers and declare a state of emergency . The request was denied on 15 March , and the JNA came under control of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević . Milošević , preferring a campaign to expand Serbia rather than preservation of Yugoslavia , publicly threatened to replace the JNA with a Serbian army and declared that he no longer recognized the authority of the federal Presidency . The threat caused the JNA to gradually abandon plans to preserve Yugoslavia in favour of an expansion of Serbia . By the end of March , the conflict escalated after the first fatalities occurred during an incident at Plitvice Lakes . The JNA stepped in , supporting the insurgents , and prevented Croatian police from intervening . In early April , leaders of the Serb revolt in Croatia declared their intention to integrate the area under their control with Serbia . This was viewed by the Government of Croatia as an intention to secede from Croatia . In the beginning of 1991 , Croatia had no regular army and in an effort to bolster its defence , the country doubled its police personnel to about 20 , 000 . The most effective part of the force was the 3 , 000 - strong special police who deployed in 12 battalion s and adopted a military structure . In addition there were 9 , 000 – 10 , 000 regionally organized reserve police . The reserve police were grouped into 16 battalions and 10 independent companies . The police were armed with small arms only , but a portion of the force was unarmed . In May , the Croatian government responded by forming the Croatian National Guard ( " Zbor narodne garde " – ZNG ) , but its development was hampered by a United Nations ( UN ) arms embargo introduced in September . Prelude . In April and early May , the ethnic tensions in Zadar and the northern Dalmatia escalated further . That followed an increase of sabotage activities targeting communications , power distribution grid and other property . On 2 May , the situation continued to deteriorate after killings of Croatian policemen at Borovo Selo , and the killing of Franko Lisica , a member of the Croatian special police , in the village of Polača near Zadar by Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina ( SAO Krajina ) troops . The news provoked riots in Zadar the same day , where the crowds marched through the city centre demanding weapons to confront the Croatian Serbs , and smashing windows of shops owned by Serbian companies and Serbs living in the city itself . Croat - owned businesses in Knin were demolished during the night of 7 / 8 May in retaliation . The JNA took a more active role in the events in nearby Benkovac on 19 May , distributing a leaflet containing the names of 41 Croats who they said should be killed immediately , and providing weapons to the SAO Krajina forces in the area . In late May , the conflict gradually escalated to exchanges of mortar fire . By late June and throughout July , northern Dalmatia saw daily armed skirmishes , but no actual combat . Nonetheless , the increasing intensity of the conflict in the region and especially elsewhere in Croatia led Zadar residents to construct bomb shelter s . SAO Krajina authorities called up three TO units in the Zadar hinterland on 11 July , one day after another fatal shooting of a Croatian police patrol in Zadar area , and from the end of July , the JNA 9th ( Knin ) Corps began conscripting the local Serb population in Benkovac to strengthen its ranks . On 1 August , Croatia deployed two battalions of the ZNG 4th Guards Brigade to Kruševo near Obrovac , and they became involved in combat with the SAO Krajina TO and police forces two days later , marking the first such engagement of the Croatian War of Independence in the region . Later that month , the JNA openly sided with the SAO Krajina . On 26 August , the 9th ( Knin ) Corps troops and artillery , commanded by chief of staff of the 9th Corps , Colonel Ratko Mladić , attacked the village of Kijevo advancing alongside SAO Krajina forces to expel all Croats from the village . Another significant setback for Croatia in the region came on 11 September when the JNA captured the Maslenica Bridge . In doing so , the JNA severed the last overland road link between Dalmatia and the rest of Croatia . On 14 September , the ZNG and the Croatian police blockaded and cut utilities to all JNA facilities it had access to , beginning the Battle of the Barracks . The move blockaded 33 large JNA garrisons in Croatia , and numerous smaller facilities including border posts and weapons and ammunition storage depots . The blockade forced the JNA to amend its plans for the campaign in Croatia to accommodate the new development . Timeline . September . The planned JNA campaign included an advance in the Zadar area by the 9th ( Knin ) Corps . The corps began its operations against the ZNG on 16 September , as it was already fully mobilised and prepared for deployment . It was assigned the task of isolating Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia . In order to achieve the task , its units advanced with their main axis directed at Vodice and supporting advances directed towards Zadar , Drniš and Sinj . The initial push was intended to create favourable circumstances to attack Zadar , Šibenik and Split . The bulk of the JNA 221st Mechanised Brigade , with its battalion of World War II - vintage T - 34 tanks replaced by a battalion of modern M - 84 tanks from the corps reserve , was committed to the main axis of the attack . It was supported by elements of the SAO Krajina TO . The secondary advance , towards Biograd na Moru , was assigned to the 180th Mechanised Brigade , supported by the T - 34 battalion detached from the 221st Brigade , the 557th Mixed Antitank Artillery Regiment , and elements of the SAO Krajina TO . Further elements of the 221st Brigade were detached from the main axis and tasked with lifting ZNG blockade of JNA garrisons in Sinj and Drniš areas . The overall offensive was supported by the 9th Mixed Artillery Regiment and the 9th Military Police Battalion . Despite the secondary role initially assigned to it , the 3 , 000 - strong 180th Brigade became the main attacking force deployed against Zadar . Zadar was defended by the elements of the 4th Guards Brigade , the 112th Infantry Brigade , the independent Benkovac – Stankovci and Škabrnja battalions of the ZNG , and the police . The JNA estimated the Croatian troop strength at approximately 4 , 500 , but the Croatian units were poorly armed . The defence of the city was commanded by Colonel Josip Tuličić , head of the Zadar Sector of the 6th ( Split ) Operational Zone . The offensive commenced at 16 : 00 on 16 September , and by the second day , the commanding officer of the JNA 9th ( Knin ) Corps , Major General Vladimir Vuković , modified the initial plan due to significant resistance offered by the ZNG and the Croatian police , who were relying on populated areas and terrain features to hold back the JNA forces . The changes involved diverting a part of the force to attack Drniš and Sinj directly , while the remainder of the attacking force rested . These orders were confirmed on 18 September by the JNA Military - Maritime District commander , Vice Admiral Mile Kandić . The Yugoslav Navy started a blockade of the entire Croatian Adriatic coast on 17 September , further isolating Zadar . The electrical power supply to the city was also cut off on the first day of the JNA attack . The ZNG was driven out of Polača towards Škabrnja on 18 September . In the city of Zadar itself , Croatian forces captured seven JNA facilities , the most significant among them being " Turske kuće " barracks and depot . These captures provided the ZNG with approximately 2 , 500 rifles and 100 M - 53 machine guns , as well as ammunition . The Yugoslav Air Force bombed the barracks on 22 September in an unsuccessful attempt to hinder removal of the weapons . The captured weapons bolstered the Croatian defence , but the JNA attacks north of the city resulted in a stalemate where the Croatian forces were spread too thin to defend the city and also capture the remaining barracks , while the besieged JNA garrisons were too weak to break out . After this , there was a lull in fighting around Zadar that lasted until the end of the month , with only sporadic small arms fire and small - scale skirmishes taking place . In that period , the JNA ' s efforts were concentrated on the Battle of Šibenik and on an advance towards Sinj . Even though the ZNG successfully defended Šibenik and Sinj , it lost control of Drniš , abandoning it before the JNA arrived there on 23 September . In the last week of September , the JNA turned its focus back to Zadar , stepping up its artillery bombardment of the city . Nonetheless , the naval blockade was withdrawn on 23 September . On 29 September , the JNA edged towards Zadar , capturing the villages of Bulić , Lišane Ostrovičke and Vukšić . The same day , the JNA announced that it intended to evacuate its barracks in Zadar as it had begun to suffer from desertions . October . The fighting picked up again on 2 October , when a JNA tank and infantry attack on Nadin — the northernmost point of ZNG resistance in the Zadar area — was repelled . On 3 October , the Yugoslav Navy reinstated its blockade of the Adriatic Coast . That same day , the JNA 9th ( Knin ) Corps ordered a new push towards Zadar , with the objectives of relieving the JNA barracks in the city , the destruction of the ZNG or its ejection from Zadar , and the capture of the Port of Zadar , situated in the city centre . The attacking force was augmented by the 1st Battalion of the 592nd Mechanised Brigade . The attack commenced at 13 : 00 on 4 October , supported by artillery , naval and air assets . The besieged JNA garrisons in the city , with the exception of the Šepurine barracks garrison , also provided support with mortars and snipers . The 271st Light Artillery Regiment and the 60th Medium Self - Propelled Missile Regiment of the Yugoslav Air Defence , based in Šepurine , managed to break through the Croatian siege and join the advancing JNA force . Even though the ZNG and the police managed to hold the city and inflict considerable casualties on the JNA , by the night of 4 / 5 October , Zadar was under JNA siege . The circumstances forced the Croatian authorities in Zadar to request a cease - fire and negotiations . The cease - fire was agreed upon at 16 : 00 on 5 October and scheduled to come into force two hours later , while negotiations were set for 09 : 00 the next day . The fighting continued regardless , and the negotiations did not take place as originally planned — the JNA citing the general mobilization in Croatia as the reason for cancellation . The negotiations eventually started at the Zadar Airbase on 7 October and took two days . The talks involved Vuković , commander of the JNA garrison in Zadar , Colonel Trpko Zdravkovski , and Colonel Momčilo Perišić . Major Krešo Jakovina represented the General Staff of the HV at the talks , while Tuličić represented the regional defence command . The negotiations also included civilian representatives of the city of Zadar — Ivo Livljanić and Domagoj Kero . The cease - fire came into effect at noon on 10 October . On 8 October , while the negotiations were in progress , Croatia declared its independence from SFR Yugoslavia . Aftermath . The JNA 9th ( Knin ) Corps had fulfilled a significant part of its assigned task even before the overall offensive against Croatian forces started in the second half of September . This was the result of the capture of the Maslenica Bridge — thereby interdicting the Adriatic Highway and achieving near complete isolation of Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia . The isolation was reinforced by the Yugoslav Navy blockade , which was only withdrawn on 13 October . Nonetheless , the cease - fire agreement that was reached ended the JNA siege and a supply route to Zadar was opened via the Pag Island road . The JNA remained in positions on the outskirts of the city , from where it could threaten the ZNG defences . Even though the ZNG and the police were unable to hold ground against the well - led JNA force backed by artillery and armour , they managed to hold Zadar . The city of Zadar celebrates the successful defence of the city on 6 October each year . The cease - fire agreement also provided for the evacuation of the JNA Zadar garrison . The evacuation began on 11 October and took 15 days to complete . The JNA removed 2 , 190 – 2 , 250 truckloads of weapons and equipment and personal belongings of the JNA personnel and their family members . The evacuation encompassed six barracks and 3 , 750 persons . The agreement required the evacuated personnel and equipment to be removed from Croatian soil , and the JNA largely met that requirement , except in respect of artillery which was largely left to the SAO Krajina TO . During the evacuation , the JNA also transferred 20 truckloads of weapons to the SAO Krajina TO in the area . On 18 October , the ZNG Independent Benkovac – Staknovci Battalion was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion of the 112th Brigade to create the 134th Infantry Brigade . The exact number of casualties sustained by the ZNG , the police or the JNA has never been reported . In Zadar itself , 34 civilians were killed and 120 structures damaged by artillery fire during September and October 1991 . For these actions , the Croatian judiciary tried a group of 19 JNA officers , including Perišić and Mladić , in absentia and convicted them of war crimes against civilian population . Renewed fighting . After the JNA completed the evacuation of its Zadar garrison , its force north of the city regrouped and launched a new offensive on 18 November involving infantry and armoured units supported by artillery bombardment and close air support . The attack targeted the villages of Škabrnja , Gorica , Nadin and Zemunik Donji . Škabrnja was captured on the first day , following an air assault by a battalion of the JNA 63rd Parachute Brigade , and Nadin fell on 19 November . During the attack on Škabrnja , and in its immediate aftermath , the JNA and the supporting SAO Krajina TO forces killed 39 civilians and 14 ZNG soldiers in what later became known as the Škabrnja massacre . Some of those killed were buried in a mass grave in the village , and 27 victims were exhumed in 1995 , after the end of the war . Another seven civilians were killed in Nadin . On 21 November , the JNA and the SAO Krajina TO destroyed the Maslenica Bridge , and started to reorient their main effort towards Novigrad , Pridraga , Paljuv and Podgradina on the right flank of the Zadar sector . Those efforts culminated on 31 December 1991 – 1 January 1992 , when those four settlements were captured . On 3 January , the JNA attacked Poličnik and Zemunik Donji , which once again directly threatened the road to Pag and Zadar , but the advances failed . Zadar itself was subjected to artillery bombardment during the offensive . A plan by the JNA 9th ( Knin ) Corps to advance to the Adriatic coast at Pirovac , east of Zadar , was drawn up by 30 December 1991 under codename Strike 91 ( " Udar 91 " ) , but was never carried out . This period saw more war crimes committed by the SAO Krajina troops , including the killing of nine civilians and a JNA member in the Bruška massacre on 21 December . The fighting stopped again on 3 January , as a new cease - fire was implemented based on a peace plan brokered by the Special Envoy of the Secretary - General of the United Nations , Cyrus Vance . In early 1992 , the Independent Škabrnja Battalion was transformed into the 1st Battalion of the 159th Infantry Brigade . Control of the battlefield changed slightly during the night of 22 / 23 May 1992 when Croatian forces captured Križ Hill , near Bibinje , north of Zadar . The capture of this hill improved security for vehicles travelling along the Adriatic Highway . A further change took place in January – February 1993 , when Croatian troops recaptured part of the Zadar hinterland in Operation Maslenica and its aftermath . The entire region was recaptured by Croatia during Operation Storm in August 1995 .