Operation Medak Pocket
Operation Medak Pocket was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army between 9 – 17 September 1993, in which a salient reaching the south suburbs of Gospić, in the south-central Lika region of Croatia then under the control of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, was attacked by Croatian forces. The pocket was named after the village of Medak.
The Croatian offensive temporarily succeeded in expelling rebel Serb forces from the pocket after several days of fighting. However, the operation ended in controversy due to the skirmish with United Nations peacekeepers and accusations of serious Croatian war crimes against local Serb civilians. Although the outcome of the battle against the Serbs was a tactical victory for the Croatians, it became a serious political liability for the Croatian government and international political pressure forced a withdrawal to the previous ceasefire lines.
According to UN and Canadian sources, UNPROFOR personnel and Croatian troops exchanged heavy fire, eventually resulting in the Canadian troops driving off a Croatian assault. In Canada, the battle was considered to be one of the most severe battles fought by the Canadian Forces since the Korean War.
Background
Much of the interior of the Lika region of southern Croatia was captured by the forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serb Krajina and the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army during 1991.In Lika, almost all of the Croatian population in the Serb-held area was killed, expelled or forced to seek refuge in government-held areas, while the Serbs continued shelling of the Croatian city of Gospić throughout the year from their positions, killing hundreds of civilians. A ceasefire was agreed in the January 1992 Sarajevo Agreement and a United Nations peacekeeping force UNPROFOR was installed to police the armistice lines and act as negotiators, aid-workers, and combat soldiers.
Despite this, sporadic sniping and shelling continued to take place between the two sides. Gospić, which was close to the front lines, was repeatedly subjected to shellfire from the Serbian Army of Krajina. The town was of great importance in securing lines of communication between Zagreb, Dalmatia and Rijeka. Much of the shelling took place from the Serb-controlled Medak Pocket, an area of high ground near Medak, Croatia approximately four to five kilometres wide and five to six kilometres long which consisted of the localities of Divoselo, Čitluk and part of Počitelj plus numerous small hamlets. The pocket was primarily a rural area with a combination of forest and open fields. It was fairly lightly inhabited before the attack, with about 400 Serb civilians residing in the area and was held by units of the SVK's 15th Lika Corps.
The pocket adjoined Sector South, one of the four United Nations Protected Areas in Croatia. It was not actually in the UNPA but lay just outside in a so-called "pink zone"—RSK held territory outside the UNPAs, patrolled by UNPROFOR peacekeepers. Prior to the Medak Pocket offensive, Croatian government forces had launched several relatively small-scale attacks to retake rebel Serb-held territory in "pink zones" in the Miljevci plateau incident in June 1992 and the area of the Maslenica bridge in northern Dalmatia in January 1993—the Operation Maslenica. It has been alleged that the timing of the Maslenica and Medak offensives was owed to the political imperatives of Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, who was facing political difficulties following Croatia's intervention in the war in Bosnia.
During Croatian chief of staff Janko Bobetko's visit to Gospić area, he and his team concluded that the situation on that area of the front was unsatisfatory. It was especially critical on Velebit mountain which was held by the members of Special police of the Croatian Ministry of Interior. In case that these positions become overrun, the city of Gospić would become semi-surrounded. Croatian lines were also harassed by constant intrusions of smaller recon-sabotage groups that operated behind enemy lines. On 4 September one such group attacked Croatian positions on Velebit which resulted in two Croatian policemen being killed.
Upon that, general Markač issued the order of making a plan that would prevent further intrusions on territory held by the Special police. When Bobetko learnt about that plan, he suggested fitting it into plan of activities of Croatian Army. From beginning of September, the intensity of artillery attacks on wider area of Gospić also intensified. Bobeko therefore decided to run a small-scale tactical operation, with tasks of partially neutralizing Serb artillery positions around city of Gospić, destroying enemy recon-sabotage group base in Divoselo and shorten the length of Croatian frontline.
The offensive
9–14 September
Croatian forces began their offensive at approximately 06:00 on 9 September 1993. The attack involved around 2,500 troops drawn from the Croatian Army's Gospić Operational Zone, including the 9th Guards Brigade, 111th Brigade, Gospić Home Guard Battalion, Lovinac Home Guard Battalion and Special Police Units of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior. The Croatians were largely armed with equipment captured from the Yugoslav People's Army, including M-84 tanks, as well as large numbers of artillery pieces and an array of small arms.The SVK was taken by surprise and fell back. After two days of fighting the Croatian forces had taken control of Divoselo, Čitluk and part of Počitelj. The salient was pinched out with the new front line running just in front of the village of Medak. In retaliation for the offensive, Serb forces began to use long-range artillery to shell the city of Karlovac and fired FROG-7 ballistic missiles into the Croatian capital Zagreb. The attack on Karlovac was especially brutal and dozens of civilians were killed.
The SVK launched counter-attacks which retook some of the captured territory and brought the Croatian advance to a halt. It also threatened to attack 20 or 30 more targets throughout Croatia unless the captured territory was handed back. The two sides exchanged heavy artillery fire during 12–13 September, with the UN recording over 6,000 detonations in the Gospić-Medak area. On 13 and 14 September, Croatian Air Force MiG-21 aircraft attacked SVK artillery and rocket batteries in Banovina and Kordun but one aircraft was shot down by SA-6 near Gvozd. and its pilot, col. Miroslav Peris was killed.
According to former SVK colonel Milislav Sekulić, one of the reasons for success of Croatian offensive on Medak Pocket was the poor combat readiness of SVK forces in that area. Notably, a month before, "Citizens and fighters of Divoselo" complained to their commanding officer that village defence is basically consisted of 30 people, out of which the youngest was aged 15 and oldest 72. At the same time, some of their men deserted from the frontline only to engage in smuggling and other criminal activities around Knin.
15–17 September
Ceasefire
The offensive attracted strong international criticism and, facing political and military pressure at home and from abroad, the Croatian government agreed to a ceasefire. Major-General Petar Stipetić recalled that he was summoned in Zagreb by General Janko Bobetko on 15 September where he met with him and four other UN officers. Bobetko handed him the ceasefire agreement and after Stipetić put his signature on the page of the document, Bobetko commented that he himself would never signed that agreement, which angered Stipetić. Stipetić also said that order of withdrawal caused a lot of dissatisfaction among Croatian troops, although he expected nothing less. According to him, certain commanders warned him not to go to their sector because their men want to kill him for signing the ceasefire. When he came in Gospić, he met with General Ademi who asked him to try to get some time from the UNPROFOR because battlefield sanitation wasn't completed at that point, therefore UNPROFOR gave him three days to fix the battlefield. On 15 September a ceasefire agreement was signed by General Mile Novaković, on behalf of the Serbian side and Major-General Petar Stipetić, on behalf of the Croatian side. The agreement required the Croatian forces to withdraw to the starting lines of 9 September, and for Serb forces to withdraw from the pocket and remain withdrawn thereafter. The Croatian withdrawal was scheduled for 1200 on 15 September.In order to oversee the withdrawal and protect local civilians, UNPROFOR sent 875 troops of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group, its rifle companies consisting of 50% to 80% augmentees from the army reserve, to move into the pocket, accompanied by two French Army mechanized units. The UN forces, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Calvin, were instructed to interpose themselves between the Serb and Croatian forces.
Canadian buffer
"Operation Harmony" was the name given to the Canadian participation in UNPROFOR. The initial Canadian contingent, which deployed in March and April 1992, was drawn primarily from the 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group based in Lahr, Germany. It was based on troops of the Royal 22e Régiment, along with detachments from the Royal Canadian Regiment and 4 Combat Engineer Regiment. The Canadians were among the best trained troops at UNPROFOR's disposal, making them a natural choice for this dangerous task. They were equipped with M-113 armoured personnel carriers and carried a mix of M2.50 caliber machine guns, C6 medium machine guns, C7 assault rifles, C9 light machine guns, and 84 mm Carl Gustav RCL's. The attached Heavy Weapons Support Company brought 81 mm mortars and a specially fitted APC armed with anti-tank guided missiles.Croatian forces and other officials involved with the Medak Pocket Mission lost confidence in the UN's ability due to failed attacks on forces in the zone of separation between Krajinan Serb forces. Earlier that year Croatian troops had launched an attack in order to seize a Peruća Lake power dam and reservoir. The dam was gravely damaged on 28 January 1993, in the aftermath of Operation Maslenica, at 10:48 a.m., when it was blown up in an intentional effort to destroy it by RSK forces. of explosive was used, causing heavy damage, but ultimately the effort to demolish the dam failed. The Croatian communities in the Cetina valley were nevertheless in great danger of being flooded by the lake water. The actions of Major Mark Nicholas Gray of the Royal Marines, deployed with UNPROFOR, prevented total collapse of the dam as he had opened the spillway channel before the explosion and reduced the water level in the lake by. Subsequently, the Croatian forces intervened and captured the dam and the surrounding area. UN forces stationed in the area quickly fled before the attacking Croats, confirming Croat beliefs that a show of force would scare away the UN soldiers. Consequently, the UN needed muscle in Sector South to rebuild its credibility in the eyes of many across the globe. With their 'tough but fair' reputation, 2PPCLI was sent from the north near Zagreb to the Krajinan region in Southern Croatia, near the Dalmatian Coast territory.
According to Canadian version of following events, Croatian forces, under the pretext of not receiving authorization from Zagreb, decided to attack the Canadian forces who were moving in between the Serb and Croat forces. Private Scott LeBlanc who was present in the UN forces recalls, "We started taking fire almost immediately from the Croats". When the Canadians began constructing a fortified position, the Croatians fired hundreds of artillery shells at them. The Canadians successfully used breaks in the shelling to repair and reinforce their positions.
The UN forces claim that they took control of abandoned Serbian positions but again came under fire from the Croatian lines, with the attackers using rocket propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns. The UN troops then dug in their positions and apparently returned fire. By Canadian claims, as the night fell the Croatians attempted several flanking manoeuvres but the Canadians responded with fire against the Croatian infantry. The French used 20 mm cannon fire to suppress Croatian heavy weapons. By Canadian claims, the Croatian commander, Rahim Ademi, upon realizing that his forces could not complete their objectives, met with the Canadian commander and agreed to a ceasefire where his troops would withdraw by noon the next day.
According to Croatian version of events, Canadians started moving forward towards Croatian positions, while still having Serb troops right behind their back. The Croatian side interpreted this Canadian move as their non-completing of first phase of the agreement, which among other things included demilitarisation of area around Serb-held positions. At the same time, Serb forces located to the rear of the Canadians sniped Croatian positions; nevertheless, the order was issued not to open fire on UNPROFOR. Croatian soldiers received an order from Brigadier Ademi to fire only in self defence, and not to use heavy weapons and tanks. As the night fell the situation became unclear because Serb troops could not be clearly distinct from UNPROFOR forces, so gunfire was exchanged with the opposing side as a mean of deterrent for any kind of attack on Croatian positions. On the following morning, Brigadier Ademi was angry because UNPROFOR forces wanted to provoke his men, take new positions and thus allow Serbs to take their old positions back, so he allowed the implementation of phase two, which meant UNPROFOR troops crossing behind Croatian lines.
When the deadline passed, Canadian forces attempted to cross the Croatian lines, but were stopped at a mined and well-defended roadblock. Unwilling to fight his way through, Calvin instead held an impromptu media conference with the roadblock as a backdrop, telling 20 or so international journalists that Croatian forces clearly had something to hide. The Croatian high command, realizing they had a public relations disaster on their hands, quickly moved back to their lines held on 9 September. The withdrawal was finally verified as having been completed by 18:00 on 17 September, bringing the offensive to an end.
The advancing Canadian forces discovered that the Croat army had destroyed almost all of the Serb buildings, razing them to the ground. In the burning wrecks they found 16 mutilated corpses. The Canadians expected to find many survivors hiding in the woods, but no Serb was found alive. Rubber surgical gloves littered the area, leading Calvin to a conclusion that there had been a clean-up operation. However, UN's investigation suggests that these gloves may have also been ordinary precautionary measures by the Croatians to deal with the legitimate dead and wounded. Photographs of Canadian personnel also shows them using surgical gloves. Everything was recorded and handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. ICTY indicted Ademi in 2001, charging him with crimes against humanity, but he was ultimately acquitted.
On 27 April 1998, Calvin reported that "the Croatians reported that 27 of their members were killed or wounded during the fire fights with battle group during the 14 days in Medak". The same report indicates four Canadians wounded in initial artillery barrage, seven French soldiers were injured by land mines, three French APCs and a front-loader lost to land mines, a Canadian killed and further two injured in collision of their jeep with a Serb truck. Calvin's report does not identify the Croatian casualty report or its source. Various Canadian sources talk about 27–30 Croatian soldiers killed in an apparent clash with Canadian peacekeepers. The source of this number is apparently some kind of information published by Croatian Radio Television as well as video footage broadcast by it. In his study "Human Losses in Operation Medak Pocket", author Miroslav Međimorec claims that he did a search of the entire Croatian Radio Television's archive, but was unable to find the alleged footage or any source of that number. He also holds it possible that the footage no longer exists. Even though the operation was considered a success, due to the emerging Somalia Affair, the clash was not highly publicized at the time. Canadians trained to deal with foreign populations and authorities have to deal with conflicting parties as a non-enemy participant with knowledge and the caution that one side would become the enemy. Canadians are also taught how to deal with human rights violations, especially those that many Canadians had to face in the Medak Pocket where war crimes occurred. Most importantly they have advanced knowledge of law and skills for armed conflict. The Canadian troops showed their ability to immediately stand down when Croatian forces ceased fire and the Canadians reverted to their role as impartial peacekeepers.
The French Lieutenant-General Jean Cot, who was in charge of the operation and Calvin's superior officer, said:
The group that UNPROFOR disarmed were members of the Croatian Special Police who ended up in demilitarised zone and were disarmed at gunpoint. At first they refused to hand over their weapons, but after receiving a radio order from their commander, Mladen Markač, they complied with the request. After that, they were escorted out of the demilitarised zone and handed over to Croatian authorities. Their weapons were afterwards delivered by a Canadian officer who threw them demonstratively in the mud in front of them and walked away without saying a word. Several cases were also recorded of Canadians entering 1.5–2 kilometers too deep behind the agreed lines and crushing Croatian road obstacles using their vehicles. After UNPROFOR took control of the demilitarised zone, Canadians allowed incursions of Serb soldiers in the demilitarised zone, and Serb attacks on Croatian soldiers from there resulted in the wounding of one Croatian soldier. Such behaviour of Calvin's men resulted in increased diplomatic activity in the following days to calm the tense situation in the field. In one such meeting General Bobetko also mentioned other Croatian frustrations with UNPROFOR's peacekeeping prior to the Medak Pocket offensive:
...you knew exactly that Serbian artillery at Sveti Rok, located right behind UNPROFOR's positions permanently pounded our positions. We weren't able to return to that fire because we would then have to hit you. I've personally pointed you out, three or four times that, should this continue, we will not have other choice but to open fire. You were, therefore warned, but you did nothing....
- General Janko Bobetko to General Jean Cot
Croatian denial
According to Domazet Lošo, colonel Vagn Ove Moebjerg Nielsen, news sites, official documents and other types of sources, there is no single evidence, report, document or a statement about "The biggest Canadian battle since Korean War" as well as from either of these resources:- UNPROFOR Sector South HQ
- UNPROFOR HQ Croatia
- CANBAT HQ
- CANBAT soldiers statements in September 1993.
- CANBAT Commander Jim Calvin statement in September 1993.
- FREBAT HQ
- UN Military observers
- UN Civil police
- UN Security Councile
- Serb HQ, field units or intelligence
- Croat HQ, field units or intelligence
- Human rights watch and similar organisations
- US State department
Among all of these, there is only a mention the incident, reporting "minor incident" as sporadic firefight or few shootouts. Serbs also do not mention "the battle" in their own view of operation Medak pocket.
Of its 875 soldiers , only 375 came from the regular unit: the rest were augmentees, 385 Primary Reserve soldiers and 165 from other regular force units. In fact, reserve soldiers made up 70% of rifle company strength during the mission due to the requirement for highly skilled and experienced regular soldiers in support and technical trade positions. This includes 7 out of the 12 platoon commanders who came from reserve battalions as Reserve Entry Scheme Officers. Nevertheless the 2 PPCLI Battlegroup in Croatia contained the highest concentration of reserve soldiers on an operational mission to date.
Alpha and Bravo Companies, arrived in the area from Sector West on September 7, 1993, just 48 hours before the Croatian offensive started.
UNTV reports on the actions of CANBAT and CIVPOL after UNPROFOR had successfully crossed Croatian lines to set up a buffer between Croatian and Serbian forces in the Medak pocket. Includes interviews with civilians caught up in the recent Croatian offensive.
In an interview with three CANBAT soldiers they explain that they arrived 48 hours ago and that their task was to observe the area and take up a position on the earth embankment fifty metres from where they had first come in between the opposing sides. They explain that in process of replacing the Serb lines, they came under direct and indirect fire from the Croatian lines and, following the UNPROFOR rules of engagement, they did return fire but with small arms only. The soldiers say that there were no casualties on their side, that the Serbs have a couple of casualties, and they have no knowledge of any Croatian casualties.
Major-general Petar Stipetić, "categorically rejected any insinuations of an armed conflict between Croatian troops and the UN in the Medak Pocket", although, he mentioned an incident on second day of Croatian withdrawal when French APC got stuck in a minefield for which Croatian commander ordered his engineers and medical corps to salvage the French.
In 2002 the Croatian newspaper Nacional published a report claiming that "the armed conflict between the Croatian and Canadian forces in operation Medak Pocket from 9 to 17 September 1993 never happened" and that the Canadians had fired "no more than a couple of shots into the night." The same newspaper also claims that the autopsy on Croatian soldiers killed during the Operation Medak Pocket, revealed that none of them died from the weapons that Canadians had in their arsenal at the Medak Pocket. Retired Croatian admiral Davor Domazet-Lošo, testifying at 2007 trial of general Mirko Norac, commanding officer of the 9th Guards Brigade in September 1993, and general Rahim Ademi, commanding officer of the Gospić military district at the time, denied Canadian claims of scale of the armed conflict with UNPROFOR and 26 Croatian fatalities resulting from the battle. He went on to say that he wonders if the 26 victims were Serbs since the claim of 26 killed Croats was not true. This was denied by Calvin, and decorated Canadian Army veterans who served at Medak. For their part, the Croatian authorities, both civil and military, during the aftermath of the skirmish with the UN forces and in the years that followed, have never stated that any serious battle with UNPROFOR forces in the Medak area ever occurred and claim that the Canadian forces' version of events is politically motivated. Domazet also invited Canadian side to show where are the graves of 26 Croatian soldiers "that they killed in non existing clash for which they received 800 medals".
Miroslav Međimorec in his paper Medak Pocket: Canadian Interpretation - Canadian Sources, concluded that Canadian "soldiers accounts" are filled with event's excitement, "are contradicted by the nature of the firefights" and that they usually come down to bare bragging instead of speaking of the real witnessed event. He concludes that "only by bragging could that "scuffle" turn into a fierce dramatic battle in which everything depended on Canadian courage and military capability."
Serbian denial
Croatian author Miroslav Međimorec gained access to the battle reports of ARSK 3rd Motorised Brigade, which was stationed near the Canadian UNPROFOR forces on 16 and 17 September 1993. The reports, although written in confusing manner, mention only occasional provocations coming from Croatian side in this period, to which the Serb side answered with small arms fire. The author concluded that the clash between Croatian forces and the UN either was not fierce enough to be mentioned by the person writing the report or it did not happen at all.Nielsen denial
Retired Royal Danish Army colonel Vagn Ove Moebjerg Nielsen, UNPROFOR commanding officer in the area at the time, but who was not present for the battle, testifying at the Ademi–Norac trial, denied that there was any armed conflict between the Canadian and Croatian troops except for a single incident when the Canadians deployed in front of Serb-held positions. Croatian Army fired shots, but the Canadians did not return fire. He added that the firing stopped when Croats realized that they are engaging the UN force.Canadian denial
Some Canadian analysts wrote that the skirmish between Croatian and Canadian troops could not be called a real battle, especially if perceived through western standards in which the opposing sides are attached by fire and movement. Croats took no sweeping tank thrusts or infantry movements in order to overtake the ground held by the UN. Skirmish can only be perceived as a battle by what they call "the Balkan standards" in which the opposing side is forced to abandon their positions under pressure from heavy fire, adding the fact that five of C Company's men were reservists for who this skirmish was "a real war".In Canada, the event has been referred to as "Canada's secret battle". The Medak Pocket was an event that challenged the skill and discipline of an army that had not deployed formed units to fight in a full-scale battle for almost 40 years. Military analysts have since written extensively of the effects the battle at Medak Pocket has had on the Canadian military, including the management of public information regarding the battle, and both the Canadian military's and the Canadian public's perception of what "peacekeepers" were trained to do. The battle did not gain widespread public attention in Canada at the time.
Mine incident
On 25 September 1993, a Canadian infantry patrol stumbled on a mine which wounded two of its soldiers. They dispatched the APC, which triggered another mine, so two more Canadian soldiers were wounded. Croatian help was asked, received and declined twice before the wounded soldiers were taken to hospital in Zagreb across the Serb-held territory. After this, General Cot again accused Croatian Army of opening fire on the UN personnel, but on 28 September, General Bebetko sent a letter in which he strongly dismissed these claims and suggested establishing a mixed committee to determine the truth. Cot then admitted it was a misunderstanding and apparently apologized for falsely accusing the Croatian side.War crimes investigations
The UN immediately began an investigation into the events at Medak. The task was hampered by the systematic destruction that had been carried out by the withdrawing Croatians. The UN forces found that "each and every building in the Medak Pocket had been leveled to the ground", in a total of eleven villages and hamlets. UNPROFOR units recovered 18 bodies in the Medak Pocket at the immediate aftermath of the operation. Croatian authorities turned over another 64 bodies which they claimed they recovered at the Medak Pocket which were given to the Serbs authorities. The investigation claimed that one of the factors which complicated the determination of military status was that many civilians wore items of military clothing and many local military wore items of civilian clothing. The Croatians claimed that there were cases of two elderly women killed during the attack. They said that one was killed while operating anti-aircraft battery and onother blew herself up using a grenade to avoid the capture. UN dismissed these claims in their report in 1994., however, several eyewitness on Norac-Ademi trial in 2006., described in detail on how that grenade incident happened.Investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia determined that at least 100 Serb civilians had been unlawfully killed and many others had suffered serious injuries; many of the victims were women and elderly people. 29 executed Serb civilians have been identified, as well as five Serb soldiers who had been captured or wounded. More were thought to have been killed, but the bodies were said to have been removed or destroyed by the Croatians. In addition, Serb-owned property was systematically looted and destroyed to render the area uninhabitable. Personal belongings, household goods, furniture, housing items, farm animals, farm machinery and other equipment were looted or destroyed, and wells were polluted to make them unusable. An estimated 164 homes and 148 barns and outbuildings were burned down or blown up. Much of the destruction was said to have taken place during the 48 hours between the ceasefire being signed and the withdrawal being completed.
The US Department of State claimed that Croatian forces destroyed 11 Serbian villages and killed at least 67 individuals, including civilians.
Several members of the Croatian military were subsequently charged with war crimes. The highest-ranking indictee was General Janko Bobetko. He was indicted for war crimes by the ICTY in 2001, but died before the case was heard by the court, and in consequence the trial was cancelled.
The wider area was under the jurisdiction of the Gospić Military District, commanded at the time by Brigadier Rahim Ademi. He was also indicted by the ICTY and was transferred there in 2001. In 2004, General Mirko Norac – who was already serving a 12-year jail sentence in Croatia for his role in the Gospić massacre – was also indicted and transferred to The Hague. The two cases were joined in July 2004 and in November 2005 the Tribunal agreed to a Croatian government request to transfer the case back to Croatia, for trial before a Croatian court.
The trial of Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi began at the Zagreb County Court in June 2007 and resulted in first-degree verdict in May 2008 whereby Norac was found guilty and given a seven-year sentence for failing to stop his soldiers killing Serbs, while Ademi was acquitted.
The appeal went to the Supreme Court of Croatia which rendered its verdict in November 2009, confirming the previous verdict but commuting Norac's sentence by a year. The final appeals were rejected in March 2010. The process was tracked for the ICTY Prosecutor by the OSCE Zagreb office.
Former members of Croatian 9th Guards Brigade Velibor Šolaja and Josip Krmpotić were also found guilty of war crimes in Medak Pocket. Šolaja was given five-year prison sentence for murder of civilians, while Krmpotić was found guilty of arson and destruction of Serb owned houses around Gospić, for which he received a three-year prison sentence. Trial of Josip Mršić is still underway, although he admit killing of an old civilian woman back in 2014.
Aftermath
After the offensive, most of the villages in the area were destroyed and depopulated. Even today, the region is still largely abandoned, though some Serbs have since returned to it. The region remained, in effect, neutral ground between the warring sides until near the end of the war. It was recaptured by the Croatian Army on 4 August 1995 during Operation Storm, which ended in the defeat of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina.The offensive also exposed serious weaknesses in the Croatian Army's command, control, and communications, which had also been a problem in Operation Maslenica earlier in the year.
The operation caused serious political difficulties for the Croatian government, which was heavily criticised abroad for its actions at Medak. The well-publicised accusations of war crimes, along with the Muslim-Croat bloodshed in Bosnia, led to Croatia's image being severely tarnished; in many quarters abroad, the country was viewed as having moved from being a victim to an aggressor.
The war crimes committed during the operation damaged the credibility of UNPROFOR as well, as its forces had been unable to prevent them despite being in the vicinity at the time. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the UN Secretary-General, admitted that
The 2nd Battalion PPCLI Battle Group, was later awarded the Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation for its actions in the Medak Pocket, the first Canadian unit ever presented this unit commendation.