According to the statement, 208 Homeland War soldiers died in combat in the Zadar region in the entire 1993.
The statement is a response of the Government's Public Relations office to media questions about the official figure of those killed in the Maslenica operation which were forwarded to the Defence Ministry on Tuesday and Wednesday. The media officially requested those figures after President Stjepan Mesic said that 185 soldiers were killed in the operation and that the operation was poorly prepared. War veterans' associations condemned Mesic's statement and requested his apology, asking state institutions to condemn his statement.
In a statement for Croatian Radio on Monday, Mesic accused General Ante Gotovina of being responsible, alongside the late General Janko Bobetko, for the death of 185 soldiers in the operation which he described as "unprepared". "It didn't move us forward one inch and was carried out for election purposes," Mesic said.