ZAGREB, Aug 4 (Hina) - On August 5, Croatian citizens are marking the Day of Homeland Gratitude, commemorating Saturday, August 5, 1995, when the old Croatian royal town of Knin was liberated in Operation "Storm". The liberation of
Knin was the peak of an excellently prepared and implemented military and police operation, which lasted only 84 hours and liberated some 11,000 square kilometres of territory which had been occupied by Serb rebels for more than four years.
ZAGREB, Aug 4 (Hina) - On August 5, Croatian citizens are marking
the Day of Homeland Gratitude, commemorating Saturday, August 5,
1995, when the old Croatian royal town of Knin was liberated in
Operation "Storm". The liberation of Knin was the peak of an
excellently prepared and implemented military and police
operation, which lasted only 84 hours and liberated some 11,000
square kilometres of territory which had been occupied by Serb
rebels for more than four years. #L#
The operation started at 5 am on Friday, August 5. A general alert
was sounded in all towns bordering with the occupied areas and
citizens were urged to exercise caution.
Croatian citizens of Serb nationality living in the occupied areas
of Knin, Gracac, Lapac, Korenica, Slunj, Glina, Dvor, and Petrinja
were addressed by the President of the Republic, Franjo Tudjman,
who called on them to stay in their homes.
"We are determined to put an end to the suffering and uncertainty of
displaced Croats from the occupied areas, guaranteeing Croatian
Serbs human and ethnic rights in the constitutional and legal order
of the democratic Croatia", Tudjman said in the address among other
things.
In the early evening hours of August 4, the public was informed that
the operation, aimed at establishing Croatia's constitutional and
legal system in the occupied areas and the arrival of Croatian
forces on the internationally recognised Croatian borders, was
proceeding as planned. After four years of Serb occupation, it was
said that evening, Croatian Army and police forces liberated Sveti
Rok, only a few kilometres from Knin, which was surrounded, as well
as several other towns in the occupied areas.
Next day, on Saturday, August 5, exactly at noon the Croatian flag
was hoisted at the fortress overlooking Knin. The Croatian Army and
police also liberated Gracac, Lovinac, Benkovac, Kijevo, Vrlika,
Primislje near Slunj, and several roads. They also liberated the
town of Dubica and reached the internationally recognised border
between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
On Sunday, August 6, reports came in announcing the liberation of
Plasko, Licki Osik and Vrhovine, Obrovac, Korenica, Slunj,
Cetingrad, Bruvno, and Plitvice.
On the same day, in the afternoon hours, President Tudjman visited
Knin. "We have had several historic days since the establishment of
a free and independent Croatian state, but today is an exceptional
historic day. We are in Knin - the seat of Croatian kings, which
means more than just liberating Croatian territory and the town. It
means creating conditions for the stability of the Croatian state
for centuries to come", he said.
On Monday, August 7, the then Defence Minister Gojko Susak
addressed the public saying the military-police operation "Storm"
in the former sectors North and South had been completed
establishing full control over Croatian territory and reinstating
Croatia's constitutional and legal order. The Croatian armed
forces completed their task within 84 hours and arrived at
Croatia's internationally recognised borders.
A total of 174 armed forces' members were killed and another 1,430
were wounded in the operation.
To keep the operation in the memory of Croatian citizens, a year
after it took place the Croatian Parliament adopted a law
proclaiming a new holiday - Homeland Gratitude Day.
(hina) rml