storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

Bribirske Mostine line on the way to its objective, Poličnik and Đevrske; the 15 th Home
Guard Regiment reached Vačani - Bratiškovci and Smrdelji en route to Kistanje, and
some units of the 142 nd Home Guard Regiment, aft er liberating Drniš, seized the village
of Siverić and - having captured Velika Promina - advanced to the villages of Zvjerinjac
and Vrbnik. Th e other units of the Regiment advanced from Oklaj to Mala Promina
and the village of Lukar in order to eff ect linkup, at Vrbnik, with forces advancing from
Siverić. 191
OG Zadar met with no resistance along its line of advance. Early in the morning on
5 August the SVK 3 rd Infantry Brigade began to pull back towards Srb, followed by the
92 nd Motorized Brigade. 192 Units of the HV 7 th Home Guard Regiment freed Zemunik
Gornji, Biljane Donje, Škabrnja, Nadin and entered Benkovac in the evening; 193 the HV
112 th Brigade freed the village of Smilčić, continued to advance towards Debelo Brdo, 194
and entered Karin - Debelo Brdo - Biljane Gornje by the end of the day. 195 Th e second
battalion of the HV 9 th Guards Brigade reached Golovro - Pećica, and some units entered
Obrovac during the night. 196
Th e liberation of Knin on 5 August accelerated the collapse of the North Dalmatian
Corps which had started the night before. It could almost be said that the Corps was
“eliminated” by that time, although on that day some of its units were still in the
territory of the Republic of Croatia close to the border with Bosnia&Herzegovina - from
D. Tiškovac to the Una railway station at Martin Brod. However, in the report on the
execution of the operation the HV General Staff reproached the Split Corps District for
having ground to a standstill for two days because of the celebration. 197 According to
an opposite view, this report is the result of ignorance about events round and in Knin
because, it is claimed, the operational break in the activity of the Split Corps District was
due to security reasons, i.e., preparations for the arrival of the President of the Republic
of Croatia Dr. Franjo Tuđman in Knin on 6 August. Th us, as reported, most of the units
of the Split Corps District present in the area of Obrovac, Benkovac, Kistanje, Drniš and
Vrlika on 6 August were engaged in “sweeping and mopping up the liberated territory”
in order to make it free in the full sense of the word and secure from possible surprises.
On the same day the 2 nd Battalion of the HV 9 th Guards Brigade combined with the 1 st
191 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, IZM Zadar, cl. 032-01/95-01/01, reg. no. 1080-03-954812 of 5 August 1995; PD
Service report. ZP Split, IZM Zadar, cl. 81/95-01/12, reg. no. 1080-01-95-269 of 5 August 1995; Daily report.
192 M. Sekulić, “Knin je pao u Beogradu” (Knin Fell in Belgrade), 196-201.
193 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, cl. 032-01/95-01/12, reg. no. 1080-01-03-95-34 of 5 August 1995; Daily report.
SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, IZM Zadar, cl. 032-01/95-01/01, reg. no. 1080-03-95-481 of 5 August 1995; PD
Service report. SVA MORH, 7th dp: APO 8312 Zadar, cl.032-01/95-01/01, reg. no. 8312-05-95-73 of 10 August
1995; Report on Operation Storm.
194 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, cl. 032-01/95-01/12, reg. no. 1080-01-03-95-34 of 5 August 1995; Daily report.
195 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, IZM Zadar, cl. 032-01/95-01/01, reg. no. 1080-03-95-481 of 5 August 1995; PD
Service report.
196 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, IZM Zadar, cl. 032-01/95-01/01, reg. no. 1080-03-95-481 of 5 August 1995; PD
Service report. SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, APO 3178/9 Zadar, CL. 818-04/95-01/18, REG. NO. 3178/9-31-95-
29 of 11 August 1995; Report.
197 GS HV, cl. 80-01/95-02/08, reg. no. 512-06-05/01-95-505 of 21 August 1995; Report on Operation Storm.
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