Operation Flash: western Slavonia liberated

To put an end to the escalation of violence exercised by the Serb separatists in the region of Pakrac, the Croatian Army took advantage of the 4-year long status quo to equip and professionalise its troops. On 1 May, it launched Operation Flash (Bljesak): in less than 32 hours, the Croatian forces liberated the whole of western Slavonia (i.e. about 500 square kilometres), liberating the entire eastern part of the country in one fell swoop. From that moment on, the balance of power shifted in favour of Croatia.

1995

1–2 May

Photo: HINA

Indiscriminate bombing of Croatia's capital

Powerless in the face of the Croatian military's operation in western Slavonia, Milan Martić, leader of the Serb separatists in Croatia, ordered retaliatory rocket strikes on Zagreb using rockets loaded with cluster bombs, killing seven people and wounding more than 200. In 2007, he was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague for murders, deportations, torture and other atrocities, as well as for the rocket strikes that used multiple rocket launchers to strike the Croatian capital of Zagreb, a non-military objective. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.