Kninjas
{{short description|Paramilitary unit}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Kninjas
| native_name = Knindže
| image = Patch of the Kninjas.svg
| image_size = 200
| caption =
| dates = 1991–1994
| country =
| allegiance = {{flagicon image|Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} Republic of Serbian Krajina
| branch = {{Flagicon_image|War Flag of Serbian Krajina.svg}} Army of Serbian Krajina
| size = 64 soldiers
| command_structure =
| garrison =
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| nickname = Red Berets
| patron =
| motto =
| colors =
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| mascot =
| equipment =
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| anniversaries =
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| battles = {{tree_list}}
- Croatian War of Independence
- 1991 Yugoslav campaign in Croatia
- Operation Stinger
- Battle of Hrvatska Kostajnica
- Battles for Glina
- {{ill|Operation Steel '93|sr| Операција Челик '93}}
{{tree list/end}}
{{tree list}}
{{Tree list/end}}
| disbanded =
| commander1 =
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| notable_commanders = Dragan Vasiljković
| identification_symbol = Serbian cross
| identification_symbol_label = Emblem
}}
The Kninjas ({{langx|sr|Книнџе / Knindže}}), also known as the Red Berets, was a Serb paramilitary unit and a volunteer militia supporting the Army of Serb Krajina during the Croatian War of Independence. It was based in Knin, the capital of breakaway SAO Krajina that became the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK).
It was led by Serbian-Australian Dragan Vasiljković war criminal, known as "Captain Dragan".{{cite news |date=26 May 2011 |title=The Real Captain Dragan |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/the-real-captain-dragan |access-date=11 July 2015 |newspaper=Australian Broadcasting Corporation News}} The unit was one of several notable Serb paramilitary units, alongside the White Eagles, Serbian Volunteer Guard, Scorpions, Wolves of Vučjak, and others.
History
Vasiljković, who had served in the Australian Army, had returned to Yugoslavia in 1990 during the Croatian independence movement, eventually being hired as an instructor for volunteers in the summer of 1991. At this time, Belgrade daily Politika published a comic book named The Demons Return that featured the Kninjas fighting the Croats with martial arts.{{sfn|Thompson|1999}} The unit, deemed elite, was a special unit that answered in part to Knin police chief Milan Martić.{{sfn|Thompson|1999|p=73}} According to Martić himself, he was supplied of equipment and weapons mostly from the Serbian government.{{sfn|Thompson|1999|p=73}} It became the special forces of the RSK Interior Ministry.{{cite book|title=Focus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcwtAQAAIAAJ|date=January 1992|publisher=Tanjug News Agency, Foreign Language Desk|page=55}}
The name, a pun on "Knin" and "Ninjas",{{sfn|Thompson|1999}} was informal;{{sfn|GLA}} the unit did not have an official name, but the term was used for the mostly Vasiljković-trained volunteers.{{sfn|GLA}}
Members of the unit were involved in the December 1991 Bruška massacre.
Veterans of the unit later joined the Special Operations Unit of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Vasiljković served a 15-year prison sentence for war crimes by the Croatian court in Split.{{cite web |last=Magnay |first=Jacquelin |date=21 September 2016 |title=Dragan Vasiljkovic war crimes hearing begins in Croatia |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/dragan-vasiljkovic-war-crimes-hearing-begins-in-croatia/news-story/5e01c8a17044f35549bac38e782d92b2 |access-date=30 November 2016 |work=The Australian}}{{cite news |date=8 July 2015 |title=Captain Dragan: Serbian war crimes suspect Dragan Vasiljkovic extradited from Australia |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-08/war-crimes-suspect-captain-dragan-extradited-from-australia/6605248 |access-date=9 July 2015 |newspaper=Australian Broadcasting Corporation News}} He was released from prison on March 28, 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/kapetan-dragan-pusten-iz-zatvora-i-odmah-protjeran-u-srbiju-bio-je-osuden-za-ratne-zlocine-u-kninu-i-glini-nakon-odsluzenja-kazne-odveden-na-bajakovo/10144465/|title=KAPETAN DRAGAN PUŠTEN IZ ZATVORA I ODMAH PROTJERAN U SRBIJU Bio je osuđen za ratne zločine u Kninu i Glini, nakon odsluženja kazne odveden na Bajakovo|date=28 March 2020|work=Jutarnji list|language=hr|access-date=28 March 2020}}
The emblem was a customized Serbian cross, with blue background and inverted firesteels. In the 257 operations conducted by the Kninjas,{{Cite web |date=2019-11-25 |title=Интервью Капитана Драгана |url=http://www.srpska.ru/article.php?nid=13976 |access-date=2024-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125180243/http://www.srpska.ru/article.php?nid=13976 |archive-date=2019-11-25 }} only one out of the 64 soldiers died due to a direct explosion by a grenade on his head and another four were injured.
Cultural impact
The Bosnian Serb nationalist singer Baja Mali Knindža chose his stagename in honour of the Kninjas.{{cite web |date=7 October 2009 |title=Dvostruka mjerila: 'Mali Knindža' slavi četnike u Švicarskoj |url=http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/73253/Default.aspx |accessdate=11 January 2015 |publisher=Slobodna Dalmacija}}{{cite web |date=7 October 2009 |title=Thompsona protjerali, a Malom Knindži daju da propagira četnike |url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/thompsona-protjerali--a-malom-knindzi-daju-da-propagira-cetnike/311481/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212615/http://www.jutarnji.hr/thompsona-protjerali--a-malom-knindzi-daju-da-propagira-cetnike/311481/ |archivedate=3 March 2016 |accessdate=11 January 2015 |publisher=Jutarnji}} He has also recorded a well-known song called Knindže Krajišnici ("Kninjas of the Krajina").
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|author1=John B. Allcock|author2=Marko Milivojević|author3=John Joseph Horton|title=Conflict in the former Yugoslavia: an encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqoUAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-87436-935-9}}
- {{cite book|first=Mark |last=Thompson|title=Forging War: The Media in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pp5pAAAAMAAJ|date=1 January 1999|publisher=University of Luton Press|isbn=978-1-86020-552-1}}
- {{cite book|author1=John Oppenheim|author2=Willem-Jan van der Wolf|title=Global War Crimes Tribunal Collection|volume=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nV46AQAAIAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Global Law Association|ref={{harvid|GLA}} }}
{{Yugoslav Wars}}
Category:Paramilitary organizations in the Yugoslav Wars
Category:Paramilitary organizations based in Serbia
Category:Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence
Category:Military units and formations of the Bosnian War
Category:Serbian war crimes in the Croatian War of Independence
Category:1991 establishments in Serbia
Category:1991 establishments in Croatia