Operation Medak Pocket (Croatian: Medački džep, Serbian: Медачки џеп) 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 after a skirmish with United Nations peacekeepers and accusations of serious Croatian war crimes against local Serb civilians. Although the outcome of the battle 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 Canadian and French military sources, UNPROFOR personnel and Croatian troops exchanged heavy fire. In Canada, at the time, the battle was considered to be one of the most severe battles fought by the Canadian Forces since the Korean War, while Croatian sources describe it as merely a brief, accidental exchange of fire resulting in few casualties.
Read more about Operation Medak Pocket: Background, War Crimes Investigations, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words operation and/or pocket:
“Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)