Croatia celebrates Operation Storm anniversary

Croatia celebrates Operation Storm anniversary

They placed wreaths and lighted candles this morning at the graves of Croatian military casualties buried in a local cemetery.

The state officials then attended the raising of the Croatian flag on the Knin fortress, to mark the August 5, 1995, entry of Croatian forces in the town.

A military parade followed in the streets of Knin, while the ceremonies are scheduled to end this evening with a requiem for all who died in the operation and a concert in the main town square.

Croatia sees August 5 as one of the landmark dates in its recent history, when that country’s army regained control over Knin and the region of Krajina.

From 1991 to 1995, Krajina was under the control of ethnic Serbs from the area, whom the government in Zagreb declared rebels.

Operation Storm involved more than 200,000 soldiers on both sides and lasted only 84 hours, according to official records. 174 Croatian soldiers died, while 1,430 were wounded.

The exact number of ethnic Serb civilian deaths is still undetermined, with numbers coming from Belgrade and Zagreb differing significantly.

The Serbian authorities say 2,500 civilians died, while 250,000 were driven out of their homes.

Croatia, however, claims the quarter of a million refugees left in an organized manner, under pressure form local Serb authorities, while Serbia maintains the exodus amounted to an act of ethnic cleansing.

The Croatian public still takes pride in Operation Storm and its results, while numerous veteran associations and political parties resist accepting the facts that Croatian army and police committed many war crimes during the campaign, including murder of civilians and destruction of property.

Three former Croatian generals, Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak have been charged by the Hague Tribunal with war crimes committed during and after Operation Strom, and are currently in Hague detention, awaiting trial.