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Aft er heavy and strenuous fi ghting the special units broke through the defence lines
of the 4 th Light Brigade and parts of the 9 th Motorized Brigade of the SVK Lika Corps.
Th e Light Brigade was rolled back to the Oščenica - Bolič - Osmatračnica line. At about
1300 hours the MUP units seized from the 9 th Motorized Brigade the fi rst strategic point
on the Velebit range - the Mali Alan pass, and at about 1700 hours also took the village of
Sveti Rok. 207 Before nighfall, at about 2000 hours, the Special Police also gained control
over the Medak - Sv. Rok road up to Ričice. Along the Mali Alan - Ćelavac axis the
Special Police units reached the area of Male Žuljine and Velike Žuljine, where it faced
extremely tough resistance until 2100 hours. 208 Combat action of the MUP units ceased
on 2200 hours, when the units regrouped for defence of the achieved lines, while the
majority of the force rested, under heavy guard, in fi eld conditions until 0500 hours. On
the fi rst day casualties totalled 5 dead and more than 30 wounded (of varying severity;
some of the troops were dehydrated because of an insuffi cient quantity of drinking
water). Th e casualty toll was substantially reduced by the presence of surgical and
anesthesiological teams in the fi rst line of battle, which promptly provided the necessary
medical assistance to the wounded. One company of the Grom (Th under) Special Police
unit from the Karlovac Police Department, whose members were from the area of Slunj,
was attached to the HV 1 st Guards Brigade advancing towards Plaški - Saborsko - Slunj;
two of its members were wounded in the operation. 209
Aft er losing its position on the Velebit range, part of the SVK 9 th Motorized Brigade
started to abandon other positions as well in order to secure withdrawal towards Udbina
because the Medak - Gračac road was cut. At midnight on 4 August the HV General Staff
ordered the MUP special force to take Gračac “by a vigorous attack and manoeuvre”. 210
In the morning of 5 August the SVK General Staff planned to halt the Croatian advance
by committing part of the 2 nd Guards Brigade of the Special Unit Corps and, later on, by
deploying one battalion from the 92 nd Motorized Brigade and another from the 4 th Light
Brigade. 211
However, on 5 August in the morning (at about 1030 hours) the Special Police units
freed the village of Lovinac at the foot of Mount Velebit, cut the Gospić - Gračac road and
entered Gračac at about 1115 hours. Aft er entering Gračac they continued to advance
towards Čolovac - Brezić. Th is brought the police troops into the area of the Gospić
Corps District, i.e., the Lika theatre. 212 On its western front the Special Police liberated
207 According to the CIA analysis, the HV’s greatest success on 4 August came in the Velebit range and Northern
Dalmatia. Th e pace of the MUP advance, stresses further the analysis, left the SVK 9th Motorized Brigade
no time to regroup or consolidate its defences. Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav
Confl ict, 1990-1995, Central Intelligence Agency, Offi ce of Russian and European Analysis, Washington DC
20505, May 2002, 371.
208 MUP, Command, 4 August 1995; Report MORH, GSHV: GS HV, cl. 80-01/95-02/08, reg. no. 512-06-05/01-
95-381 of 4 August 1995; Report. HMDCDR: Ž. Sačić, «Specijalna policija u Oluji» (Special Police in Storm).
209 HMDCDR: Ž. Sačić, «Specijalna policija u Oluji» (Special Police in Storm).
210 MORH, GSHV: GS HV, cl. 80-01/95.02/08, reg. no. 512-06-05/01-95-384 of 5 August 1995; Order.
211 M. Sekulić, “Knin je pao u Beogradu” (Knin Fell in Belgrade), 223-224.
212 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split, cl. 032-01/95-01/12, reg. no. 1080-01-03-95-34 of 5 August 1995; Daily report.
HMDCDR: Ž. Sačić, «Specijalna policija u Oluji» (Special Police in Storm).
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