Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Croat attacks raise fear of new war

Emma Daly
Monday 01 May 1995 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Croatian army, backed by tanks, artillery and elderly MiG jets, yesterday launched an attack on Serb-held territory on the border with Bosnia, increasing fears of all-out war in the region.

In an attempt to stop the fighting, the UN envoy, Yasushi Akashi, flew from Sarajevo - where he failed to win an extension to the Bosnian truce that expired at midday yesterday -to join talks convened between Zagreb and its secessionist Serbs.

No progress was reported: as Hrvoje Sarinic, the Croatian minister responsible for UN relations, met Borislav Mikelic, prime minister of the self-declared "Serbian Republic of Krajina", Croatian jet fighters took off for a failed attempt to bomb a Serb-held bridge across the Sava river to Bosnia.

"The news from Croatia is of very deep concern to me," Mr Akashi said before leaving Sarajevo. "It is more than an incident but less than full- scale war." The action has sidelined fears about Bosnia, which looks relatively stable seen from Zagreb.

Around 3,000 Croatian troops launched a three-pronged attack on Krajina's "Sector West", the smallest and most vulnerable Serb-held region, at dawn yesterday, in a relatively successful attempt to seize control of the Zagreb-Belgrade highway. The Serbs shelled the towns of Karlovac, Sisak, Kutina and Nova Gradiska in response, and appealed for help from Serbs in Bosnia and rump Yugoslavia. They also took 115 UN staff hostage in Okucani, and are holding around 60 Nepalese troops in two posts near the river border.

Artillery and infantry battles were raging along the eastern and western front lines of the sector last night, UN officials said, with the Croatian army making progress. Serb officials told of "dozens of dead and wounded" but reports of casualties are vague as the 2,000 peace-keepers in the area are confined to camp.

By dusk, the Croats had taken several Serb towns including Jasenovac, site of the Second World War concentration camp where Croatian fascists killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs and which was today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its liberation.

Last night troops were only 4km from the Serb town of Okucani. Croatian media claimed they had control of most of the 27km of disputed motorway,which is normally patrolled by UN troops. Three Jordanians observing the road were seriously wounded yesterday by a shell.

Two Croatian MiG-21s took off from Zagreb yesterday to bomb the Sava bridge, presumably to stop any re-inforcements from Serb-held Bosnia, but apparently missed their target. In Sector South, home to the Serb "capital", Knin, columns ofCroatian and Serb troops, tanks and artillery converged on the Medak crossing. Zagreb described its attack as a limited police action.

UN mission at risk, page 9

News Analysis, page 13

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in