Battle of Kupres (1992)
Battle of Kupres | |||||||||
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Part of the Šuica Kupres and nearby towns on the map of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Units involved | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
20,000 | 6,000 | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
85 killed 154 captured |
160–177 killed 23 captured | ||||||||
38 civilians killed |
The Battle of Kupres (
The opposing sides began bringing in reinforcements to the Kupres Plateau on 5 March to strengthen positions held around individual settlements populated by different ethnic groups, communications between those positions, and roads leading away from the plateau to the north and south. Different parts of the town of Kupres were controlled by the opposing forces, while the adjacent territory surrounding the town was controlled by the Bosnian Croat TO. In turn, that territory was surrounded by Bosnian Serb TO-held territory. By the end of the month, the bulk of the civilians living in the area were evacuated. On 2 April, negotiations to defuse the situation failed while the reinforcements continued to arrive. The battle commenced the next day. In Kupres itself, the Bosnian Croat TO achieved minor territorial gains on 4–5 April, before the JNA managed to advance to the outskirts of the town the next day. The JNA entered Kupres in the afternoon of 7 April and in the next few days, it successfully drove the Croatian forces from the plateau. The breakthrough came about after the infantry originally deployed to the battle was reinforced by an armoured battalion deployed from Knin.
Croatian forces were hampered by an inadequate command structure, poor coordination and lack heavy weapons. The battle resulted in more than 200 combat deaths, and established lines of control which would remain unchanged until 1994, when the plateau was
Background
As the
Control of the
In April, the Bosnian Serbs were able to deploy 200,000 troops, hundreds of
Prelude
On 5 March, the Bosnian Serb TO requested equipment for two companies mobilised in villages around Kupres—
The Malovan-based battalion set up its first roadblock on 26 March, and the Kupres Battalion established its own checkpoints in response the following day.[15] On 27 March, an attempt to reach a negotiated settlement failed and the commanding officer of the 19th Partisan Brigade announced that armed combat might start at a moment's notice. The news prompted the evacuation of civilians of all ethnicities on 27–28 March.[16] According to the daily report of the 30th Partisan Division of 29 March, the Kupres Plateau was deserted except for able bodied and armed men. The same report noted that the JNA could not deploy to Kupres itself without a fight.[16] The JNA was convinced that the HV had intervened at Kupres to threaten the Bosnian Serbs.[17] Kupres had a high strategic value, because it sat astride a road linking the towns of Bugojno and Tomislavgrad from the central Bosnia region to western Herzegovina and further on to Croatia.[18]
Reinforcements
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Map_of_Battle_of_Kupres_toponyms.svg/280px-Map_of_Battle_of_Kupres_toponyms.svg.png)
On 29 March, the 5th (Banja Luka) Corps of the JNA decided took the initiative around Kupres, redeploying elements of the 1st Battalion of the 13th Partisan Brigade to the Kupres Plateau, along with units drawn from the 9th (Knin) Corps,[19] and the 293rd Engineer Regiment. A company of the 3rd Battalion of the 13th Partisan Brigade was also moved to the plateau on the following day, while the rest of the brigade was ordered to be ready to move to Kupres.[20] The Kupres Battalion of the Bosnian Croat TO mobilised an additional 200 troops in Kupres the same day.[21] On 31 March, the strengthened 1st Motorised Battalion of the 11th Motorised Infantry Brigade, drawn from the 9th (Knin) Corps, arrived at the Kupres Plateau.[21] The battalion was strengthened by the addition of a battery of five 120-millimetre (4.7 in) mortars, six 105-millimetre (4.1 in) howitzers, three 76-millimetre (3.0 in) ZiS-3 guns and a platoon of 82-millimetre (3.2 in) recoilless rifles.[22]
In the afternoon of 2 April, a five-hour meeting of local political leaders took place in Kupres, at the request of JNA. The purpose of the meeting, attended by members of
There were 100–200 HV troops in Kupres during the battle.
Timeline
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Map_8_-_Bosnia_-_Kupres%2C_April_1992.jpg/280px-Map_8_-_Bosnia_-_Kupres%2C_April_1992.jpg)
3 April
According to the JNA, the Bosnian Croat TO attacked in the morning of 3 April, reached the village of Donji Malovan and blockaded the Kupreška Vrata Tunnel by 7:30 a.m. The village was captured by Croats after three hours of combat, and the fighting shifted towards the village of Gornji Malovan and Kupres. By the end of the day, the Bosnian Serb TO force in Gornji Malovan was besieged.[26] The JNA instructed the Yugoslav Air Force to attack after it received reports that 15 HV tanks had appeared on the battlefield.[26] The 30th Partisan Division staff amended the plans formulated the previous day and advanced with elements of the 11th Motorised Brigade towards Kupres via Zlosela, against positions held by the Kupres Battalion at 1:15 p.m. The change of plans enabled elements of the 13th Partisan Brigade to catch up to them by 6:00 p.m. and caused the attack to fail.[30]
Following news of the fighting, the 5th (Banja Luka) Corps called on its troops deployed in western Slavonia to reinforce the 30th Partisan Division. The corps felt it could weaken its positions in western Slavonia because the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) peacekeepers were expected to deploy there by the end of the month based on the Vance plan.[31] Those troops consisted of the Volunteer Battalion of the 5th Corps, and they were augmented by the 2nd Howitzer Battalion of the 5th Mixed Artillery Regiment. The 1st Battery of the 5th Light Anti-Aircraft Defence Regiment was also added to the battalion.[32]
4–5 April
On 4 April, the Bosnian Croat TO captured Gornji Malovan.[32] At the same time, the Bosnian Croat TO received reinforcements from Posušje, as well as a company from Bugojno and Uskoplje each.[33] Fighting intensified as the JNA reinforcements arrived. A part of the Croatian reinforcements, which had just arrived from Bugojno and Uskoplje, fled after coming under attack near Zlosela. However, the JNA failed to achieve a breakthrough—even with five attack helicopters deployed in support of its advance towards Zlosela and Kupreška Vrata at 1:30 p.m.[34]
The forces attacking towards Kupreška Vrata were redeployed the next day to assist in the advance towards Zlosela.[35] In Kupres itself, the Bosnian Croat TO secured the western part of the town,[36] as well as Gornji Malovan.[37] Regardless, no significant territory changed hands. Although the 9th (Knin) Corps dispatched ten tanks to Kupres from its 9th Tank Company, commanded by Colonel Slavko Lisica, only four of them reached Kupres, as six broke down along the way. In the town of Kupres itself, the Bosnian Croat TO was reinforced by the arrival of a group drawn from the HV special forces Zrinski Battalion.[36] The 30th Partisan Division lost contact with the JNA troops (1st Battalion of the 19th Partisan Brigade) in Kupres at 1:00 p.m.[38]
6 April
At dawn on 6 April, the JNA launched a fresh attack towards Kupres and Kupreška Vrata, leaving the bulk of the 13th Partisan Brigade in reserve and employing the rest of the force at the plateau. The artillery was used so intensely that the 30th Partisan Division had to request resupply of its depleted stocks. The most effective part of the advance was the 9th Tank Company, which quickly pushed through the defensive positions, bypassed Zlosela and reached Olovo.[39] In contrast, the Bosnian Croat TO command in Kupres was overwhelmed by the complexity of the situation and could not track which units it had at its disposal—even losing track of units physically near the command post.[39]
The JNA further reinforced its position at the Kupres Plateau by ordering the redeployment of the 9th Armoured Battalion of the 9th (Knin) Corps to the area. It also established the Operational Group 11 (OG-11) which was to take over the operation on 7 April, when the AOR of the 9th Corps was extended to the region.[40] At the same time, the armoured and mechanised assets of the force were organised into the Tactical Group 1 (TG-1), commanded by Lisica.[37][41] By the end of the day, the divisional reserve was committed to the battle, and the JNA claimed that they had captured Zlosela, Olovo and Osmanlije, as well as reaching the outskirts of Kupres. The Bosnian Croat TO captured the centre of Kupres and brought the 1st Battalion of the 19th Partisan Brigade into a difficult position, only to begin withdrawing towards Tomislavgrad after the main JNA force reached the town in the night of 6/7 April. Likewise, the Bosnian Croat TO started to pull back from Kupreška Vrata.[38]
7 April
On 7 April, the bulk of the 9th Armoured Battalion arrived on the battlefield, adding 17 T-55s, eight M-60 APCs and five BVP M-80s. The unit entered Kupres in the late afternoon, followed by two battalions of the 13th Partisan Brigade. A battalion of the 11th Motorised Brigade performed mopping up operations in the Zlosela area. A part of the Bosnian Croat TO force was retreating in disarray, while a portion of the force was trapped in Kupres and Zlosela, trying to break out.
Final operations
After it captured Kupres, the OG-11 turned south, in the direction of Gornji Malovan, Donji Malovan and Šuica. The attack, spearheaded by the 9th Armoured Battalion, reached Gornji Malovan on 10 April,[43] the day Robert Zadro was killed.[28] Fighting continued around Kupres until 11 April.[37] Most of the Bosnian Croat TO troops, formally reorganised as the Croatian Defence Council (Hrvatsko vijeće obrane – HVO) on 8 April,[37] withdrew from the Kupres Plateau towards Šuica, while a small portion of the troops was forced to retreat via the Mount Cincar towards Livno.[43]
Aftermath
Sources disagree on the number of Bosnian Croat and HV casualties. Their number is variously reported as 160 or 177 killed. The Bosnian Serbs and the JNA sustained losses of 85 killed and 154 taken prisoner of war.[43][44] The JNA also captured 23 Bosnian Croat TO troops.[45] The figures are reported to include 19 civilian deaths on each side.[43][46] Even though the Serbian media initially reported that the villages of Gornji Malovan and Donji Malovan had been torched and razed to the ground, the information proved to be incorrect—the settlements sustained relatively minor damage.[47] Conversely, Croat- or Bosniak-inhabited villages were looted and torched. Zlosela suffered extensive damage—the village school was the only structure with a roof left in place.[43]
Command and coordination of the Bosnian Croat forces had been particularly poor throughout the battle.
War crime charges
In 2012, Republika Srpska authorities charged seven Bosnian Croat officials and HVO officers with the killings of 19 Serb civilians and 20 members of the Bosnian Serb TO in the area of Kupres in 1992. The charges also pertained to the abuse of 18 prisoners of war captured in the Battle of Kupres.[46] In 2013, Croatian authorities in Šibenik charged 21 former members of the JNA with the abuse of 23 HVO prisoners of war. The charges specify that the prisoners were detained and abused in Knin prison between 24 April and 14 May. The abuse is alleged to have caused the deaths of two of the prisoners and grave injuries to three others.[45]
Footnotes
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 382.
- ^ Kirk McDonald 2000, p. 1015.
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 427.
- ^ a b c Marijan 2000, p. 12.
- ^ a b c CIA 2002b, p. 355.
- ^ The Independent & 10 October 1992.
- ^ ICTY & IT-99-36/1.
- ^ Kirk McDonald 2000, p. 1009.
- ^ CIA 2002, pp. 143–144.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 13.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 14.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 15.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 19.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 15–16.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, pp. 16–17.
- ^ CIA 2002, p. 136.
- ^ CIA 2002, p. 242.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 18.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 19–20.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 20.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 21.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 25.
- ^ a b c Marijan 2000, p. 26.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 45.
- ^ a b Novi list & 17 November 2012.
- ^ Thomas & Mikulan 2006, p. 17.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 27.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 30.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 31.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 32.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 33.
- ^ a b c d e Marijan 2000, p. 39.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 35.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 34.
- ^ Marijan 2000, pp. 34–35.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 47.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 38.
- ^ a b c d e Marijan 2000, p. 42.
- ^ Večernji list & 11 April 2012.
- ^ a b Večernji list & 25 September 2013.
- ^ a b Nacional & 3 April 2012.
- ^ Marijan 2000, p. 43.
- ^ a b Marijan 2000, p. 44.
- ^ The New York Times & 12 May 1992.
References
- Books
- ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
- ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
- Kirk McDonald, Gabrielle (2000). Substantive and Procedural Aspects of International Criminal Law: The Experience of International and National Courts: Materials, Volumes 1-2. Leiden, The Netherlands: ISBN 978-90-411-1134-0.
- Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building And Legitimation, 1918–2006. Bloomington, Indiana: ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.
- Thomas, Nigel; Mikulan, Krunoslav (2006). The Yugoslav Wars: Slovenia & Croatia 1991–95. Oxford, England: ISBN 978-1-84176-963-9.
- Scientific journal articles
- Marijan, Davor (June 2000). "Borbe za Kupres u travnju 1992" [Battle of Kupres in April 1992]. Polemos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research on War and Peace (in Croatian). 3 (5). Zagreb, Croatia: Croatian Sociological Association and Jesenski & Turk Publishing House: 11–49. ISSN 1331-5595.
- News reports
- Bajruši, Robert (3 April 2012). "Nova Dodikova provokacija" [New Provocation by Dodik]. Nacional (weekly) (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2012-04-13.
- Bellamy, Christopher (10 October 1992). "Croatia built 'web of contacts' to evade weapons embargo". The Independent.
- Burns, John F. (12 May 1992). "Pessimism Is Overshadowing Hope In Effort to End Yugoslav Fighting". The New York Times.
- Šarić, Frane (25 September 2013). "Za ratni zločin kazneno prijavljen 21 pripadnik JNA" [Criminal Charges Filed Against 21 JNA Personnel]. Večernji list (in Croatian).
- Šumanović, Miro (11 April 2012). "Zapaljeno je 177 svijeća u spomen na žrtve koje su branile Kupres" [177 Candles Lit in Memory of Defenders of Kupres]. Večernji list (in Croatian).
- Tomičić, Ladislav (17 November 2012). "Turbo vod Blage Zadre: Ostali smo zajedno do kraja u Vukovaru" [Turbo Platoon of Blago Zadro: We Stayed Together in Vukovar till the End]. Novi list (in Croatian).
- Other sources