Blaž Kraljević Blaž Nikola Kraljević ( 16 September 1947 – 9 August 1992 ) was a Bosnian Croat paramilitary leader who commanded the Croatian Defence Forces ( HOS ) during the Bosnian War . An immigrant to Australia , Kraljević joined the Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood ( HRB ) upon his arrival there in 1967 . During his return to Yugoslavia in January 1992 he was appointed by Dobroslav Paraga , leader of the Croatian Party of Rights ( HSP ) , as leader of the HOS in Bosnia and Herzegovina . During the Bosnian War he advocated a Croat – Bosniak alliance , a view that ran counter to those of the Croatian government led by Croatian president Franjo Tuđman and his Croatian Democratic Union ( HDZ ) party . He denounced attempts by Mate Boban , president of the self - proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg - Bosnia , and Radovan Karadžić , president of the self - proclaimed Republika Srpska , to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina and was appointed by Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović as a member of Staff of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( ARBiH ) , shortly before his assassination by Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) soldiers under the command of Mladen Naletilić . Early life . Blaž Kraljević was born on 16 September 1947 in the village of Lisice in the municipality of Ljubuški , Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 1967 , at the age of 19 , Kraljević immigrated to Australia where he was recruited by Srećko Rover into the Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood ( HRB ) , a pro - Ustaše group established in the mid - 1950s . Kraljević remained in Australia until 1990 when he returned to Yugoslavia to help fight for Croatian independence . Bosnian War . In 1990 and 1991 , Serbs in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina had proclaimed a number of " Serbian Autonomous Regions " with the intent of later unifying them to create a Greater Serbia . Serbs used the well equipped Yugoslav People ' s Army ( JNA ) in defending these territories . As early as September or October 1990 , the JNA had begun arming Bosnian Serbs and organizing them into militias . By March 1991 , the JNA had distributed an estimated 51 , 900 firearms to Serb paramilitaries and 23 , 298 firearms to Serbian Democratic Party ( SDS ) . The Croatian government began arming Croats in the Herzegovina region in 1991 and in the start of 1992 , expecting that the Serbs would spread the war into Bosnia and Herzegovina . It also helped arm the Bosniak ( Bosnian Muslim ) community . From July 1991 to January 1992 , the JNA and Serb paramilitaries used Bosnian territory to wage attacks on Croatia . On 25 March 1991 , Franjo Tuđman met with Serbian president Slobodan Milošević in Karađorđevo , reportedly to discuss partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina . In June , the Croatian Defence Forces ( HOS ) was formed in Croatia by the Croatian Party of Rights ( HSP ) . In November , the autonomous Croatian Community of Herzeg - Bosnia ( HZ - HB ) was established , it claimed it had no secessionary goal and that it would serve a " legal basis for local self - administration " . It vowed to respect the Bosnian government under the condition that Bosnia and Herzegovina was independent of " the former and every kind of future Yugoslavia . " In December , Tuđman , in a conversation with Bosnian Croat leaders , said that " from the perspective of sovereignty , Bosnia - Herzegovina has no prospects " and recommended that Croatian policy " support for the sovereignty [ of Bosnia and Herzegovina ] until such time as it no longer suits Croatia . " That same month HOS was disbanded by the Croatian government . On 3 January 1992 , Dobroslav Paraga , leader of the HSP , appointed Kraljević as leader of the HOS in Bosnia and Herzegovina and established its main headquarters in Ljubuški . It " supported Bosnian territorial integrity much more consistently and sincerely than the HVO " which supported a partition of its territory . It was more accepting of Bosniaks in its ranks than the HVO and consisted of 5 , 000 volunteers that included Bosnian Croats , Bosniaks , and foreign volunteers . Kraljević played a very influential role and advocated a Croat – Bosniak alliance for a united Bosnia and Herzegovina . His views ran counter to those of the Croatian government and he was seen by Tuđman ' s Croatian Democratic Union ( HDZ ) as an obstacle to their plans for a Croat – Bosniak War . Media in Croatia , closely associated with Croatian defense minister Gojko Šušak , claimed that HOS was in fact " MOS " , the " Muslim Defence Force " , and that the Bosniaks were prepared , through HOS , to backstab the Croats . Upon entrance in the war , Kraljević had declared that : In April 1992 , the siege of Sarajevo began , by which time the Bosnian Serb - formed Army of Republika Srpska ( VRS ) controlled 70 % of Bosnia and Herzegovina . On 8 April , Bosnian Croats were organized into the Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) . A sizable number of Bosniaks also joined . On 15 April 1992 , the multi - ethnic Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( ARBiH ) was formed , with slightly over two - thirds of troops consisting of Bosniaks and almost one - third of Croats and Serbs . In the winter Bosniaks began leaving the HVO and joining the ARBiH which also began receiving supplies from Croatia . In May , HVO Major General Ante Roso declared that the only " legal military force " in HZ - HB was the HVO and that " all orders from the TO [ Territorial Defense ] command [ of Bosnia and Herzegovina ] are invalid , and are to be considered illegal on this territory " . On 9 May 1992 , Boban , Josip Manolić , Tuđman ' s aide , and Radovan Karadžić , president of the self - proclaimed Republika Srpska , secretly met in Graz and formed an agreement on the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina , the Graz agreement . Kraljević denounced the agreement stating " we implore all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina , especially Croats and Bosniaks , not to take into account any statements or agreements between Mate Boban and Radovan Karadžić . Neither speaks in the name of Croats and Bosniaks . They do not represent what the Croats and Bosniaks wat . . . . HOS and the TO are defending , and will defend , Bosnia and Herzegovina . " Assassination . Since the outset of the Bosnian War , HOS and HVO competed for power and influence . HOS played an important role in the liberation of Mostar , Čapljina , Neum and Stolac . By the end of July 1992 , within one day about 700 HVO members joined the ranks of HOS in Čapljina . Similar crossings occurred in Tomislavgrad , Livno and Mostar . In the summer of 1992 , the HVO started to purge its Bosniak members . At the same time armed incidents started to occur among Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the HVO and the HOS . The HOS was loyal to the Bosnian government and accepted subordination to the Staff of the ARBiH of which Kraljević was appointed a member . On 9 August , Kraljević and eight of his staff were assassinated by HVO soldiers under the command of Mladen Naletilić , who supported a split between Croat and Bosniaks , after Kraljević ' s HOS attacked the VRS near Trebinje . The HOS ' s advance into eastern Herzegovina and occupation of Trebinje angered Boban who had affirmed to Karadžić that Croat forces were uninterested in the region . The Kruševo General Staff of HVO claimed that two vehicles with HOS members refused to stop at a police checkpoint and that HOS members first opened fire , killing HVO lieutenant Živko Bodulić . Kraljević ' s body and those of the eight other HOS soldiers were rushed to Split for autopsies before an investigation began and the investigating judge from Mostar only came to the scene a day later . After his death , Croatian media claimed Kraljević was an agent of the UDBA , Yugoslav secret police , who had returned from Australia to harm the interests of Bosnian Croats . The HOS was disbanded , leaving the HVO as the only Croat force . Bosnian officials suspected that Tuđman ' s government was involved . In 1996 , at the insistence of Šušak , Tuđman posthumously awarded Kraljević the Order of Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan .