Operation Labrador

{{Short description|1991 Yugoslav Air Force operation in Croatia}}

{{Infobox operational plan

| title = Operation Labrador

| partof = the Croatian War of Independence

| map_type = Croatia

| map_label = Zagreb

| map_caption = Zagreb on a map of Croatia

| location = Zagreb, Croatia

| coordinates = {{Coord|45.81154|N|15.981672|E|type:event|display=inline,title}}

| date = 19 August 1991

| time =

| target = Jewish Community Centre and Jewish graves at the Mirogoj Cemetery

| type = Bombing

| casualties = None

| executed_by = {{flagicon|SFR Yugoslavia|23px}} Yugoslav Air Force's Counterintelligence Service

}}

Operation Labrador was a false flag operation carried out by the Yugoslav Air Force's Counterintelligence Service (KOS) in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb during the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence. It was devised as a series of terrorist attacks intended to create an image of Croatia as a pro-fascist state. Two bombings were carried out on 19 August 1991, with one at the Jewish Community Centre and a second near Jewish graves at the Mirogoj Cemetery; there were no casualties. Additional attacks targeted the national railway network and were designed to implicate Croatian President Franjo Tudman. Operation Labrador was complemented by Operation Opera — a propaganda campaign devised by the KOS to feed disinformation to the media.

Further activities of Operation Labrador were abandoned in September, after Croatian authorities captured the Yugoslav Air Force regional headquarters in Zagreb, and confiscated documents related to the operation. The authorities took nearly a month to analyze the captured documents, allowing time for the principal agents involved in the bombings to flee. Fifteen others were arrested in connection with the attack, but they were subsequently released in a prisoner exchange. Five KOS agents involved in Operation Labrador were tried in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on terrorism charges and acquitted. Croatian authorities captured two KOS agents who were part of the operation and tried them along with seven other agents who were tried in absentia. Those in custody were acquitted, while those tried in absentia were convicted.

The existence of Operation Labrador was further confirmed through the testimony of a former KOS agent, Major Mustafa Čandić, during the trial of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2002.

Background

In August 1990, an insurrection took place in Croatia centering in the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland near Knin,{{sfn|The New York Times|19 August 1990}} the Lika, Kordun, and Banovina regions, and eastern Croatia.{{sfn|ICTY|12 June 2007}} The areas were subsequently named SAO Krajina (Serb Autonomous Oblast) and, after local leaders announced their intention to integrate SAO Krajina with Serbia, the Government of Croatia declared the SAO Krajina secession movement a rebellion.{{sfn|The New York Times|2 April 1991}} By March 1991, the conflict had escalated into the Croatian War of Independence.{{sfn|The New York Times|3 March 1991}} In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated.{{sfn|The New York Times|26 June 1991}} A three-month moratorium followed,{{sfn|The New York Times|29 June 1991}} after which the declaration came into effect on 8 October 1991.{{sfn|Narodne novine|8 October 1991}} The SAO Krajina, renamed Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) on 19 December 1991, responded with a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Croatian civilians.{{sfn|Klemenčič|Žagar|2004|p=306}}

With the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) lending support to SAO Krajina leadership and the Croatian Police unable to cope with the situation, the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) was formed in May 1991.{{sfn|EECIS|1999|pp=272–278}} The development of the military of Croatia was hampered by a UN arms embargo introduced in September,{{sfn|The Independent|10 October 1992}} while the military conflict in Croatia continued to escalate.{{sfn|UNSC|28 December 1994|loc=Section III}} The JNA maintained substantial forces in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, throughout 1991.{{sfn|Thomas|Mikulan|2006|p=51}}

Bombings

File:Palmoticeva Zg 0409.jpg

In August 1991, the Yugoslav Air Force's Counterintelligence Service (KOS) executed a series of activities, codenamed Operation Labrador, aimed at discrediting the new Croatian government. Operation Labrador was planned to include several terrorist attacks that would go hand-in-hand with the activities of Operation Opera — a propaganda campaign devised to feed disinformation to the media. The two operations were intended to portray Croatia as a pro-fascist state.{{sfn|Armatta|2010|p=149}} An alternative name for Operation Opera was Operation Opera-Orijentalis,{{sfn|Bilić|2005|p=172}} or Operation Opera Orientalis.{{sfn|The Jerusalem Post|3 February 1993}}

Operation Labrador was headed by Colonel General Slobodan Rakočević, head of the Yugoslav Air Force branch of the KOS, based in Zemun.{{sfn|ICTY|11 November 2002|p=12735}}{{sfn|Gow|2003|p=61}} In Zagreb, operational control of Labrador was assigned to Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Sabolović,{{sfn|CIA|2002|p=55}} and Major Čedo Knežević.{{sfn|ICTY|11 November 2002|p=12735}} Lieutenant Colonel Radenko Radojčić was tasked with the storage of a substantial quantity of explosives in Zagreb and its surrounding areas and the subsequent planting of explosive devices in designated locations.{{sfn|Bilić|2005|p=172}}{{sfn|ICTY|11 November 2002|p=12816}} The explosives and other munitions were stored across several sites.{{sfn|ICTY|11 November 2002|p=12737}}

On 19 August, the Jewish Community Centre in Palmotićeva Street in Zagreb,{{sfn|JCZ|2012|p=14}} and Jewish graves at the Mirogoj Cemetery, were bombed as a part of Operation Labrador.{{sfn|Bilić|2005|p=137}} The explosions caused property damage, but resulted in no casualties. There were no public claims of responsibility for the attack.{{sfn|The New York Times|20 August 1991}} Aside from the two explosions in Zagreb, agents assigned to Operation Labrador were thought to also be responsible for bombing the Zagreb–Belgrade railway near Vinkovci and a railway line between Glina and Vojnić.{{sfn|Bilić|2005|p=172}} The railway attacks have also been ascribed to Operation Opera.{{sfn|ICTY|11 November 2002|p=12740}}

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the bombings in Zagreb, Josip Manolić, who had just been appointed head of the Croatian intelligence service, claimed Croatian right-wing extremists were responsible.{{sfn|Bilić|2005|p=172}} Operation Labrador was abandoned after the ZNG and the Croatian police captured the Yugoslav Air Force headquarters in Zagreb on 15 September 1991, during the Battle of the Barracks. The materials captured inside the facility included codes and computer disks related to Operation Labrador, as well as Sabolović's notes. Sabolović turned the materials over to his immediate superior at headquarters, Mirko Martić, but Martić failed to destroy them. In response, Sabolović fled Zagreb. Croatian police took almost a month to analyze the captured materials properly and uncover Operation Labrador. More than 50 operatives were arrested in October, including 9 Croatian officials from different government's agencies.{{sfn|CIA|2002|p=55}} Sabolović later claimed that only a part of the Operation Labrador network was dismantled,{{sfn|CIA|2002|p=56}} but he was contradicted by KOS Major Mustafa Čandić who was posted at the Zemun headquarters of KOS.{{sfn|ICTY|11 November 2002|p=12735}}{{sfn|Oslobođenje|1 October 2010}}

In autumn of 1991, Croatian intelligence services launched Operation Janissary (Operacija Janjičar) aimed at dismantling the remaining KOS network in Croatia. The operation was a joint operation of all Croatian intelligence services. It was authorized by Ivan Vekić and Gojko Šušak, then interior and defence ministers, and initially headed by Josip Perković.{{sfn|Nacional|27 February 2006}} Fifteen suspects were arrested by the end of 1991; they were subsequently exchanged for Anton Kikaš, who was captured by the JNA while smuggling a plane-load of weapons to Croatia.{{sfn|HRT|13 November 2002}} The operation also produced a list of suspected KOS operatives in Croatia containing 1,789 names and pseudonyms.{{sfn|Nacional|27 February 2006}}

Rakočević, Sabolović, Radojčić and two other former KOS agents were tried in Belgrade in 1993. The five were charged with instigation of terrorism and other crimes, but all were acquitted.{{sfn|Radojčić|2009|p=137}} Radojčić was arrested again in Zagreb in late 1993.{{sfn|Nacional|27 February 2006}} The second Trial of Radojčić and eight other suspects charged in connection with Operations Labrador and Opera, held in Zagreb, ended with the acquittal of Radojčić and Ratomir Mažibrada, who were in custody, and the convictions of the other defendants who were all tried in absentia.{{sfn|HRT|13 November 2002}}

Testifying at the Trial of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2002, Čandić stated that all Operation Labrador agents left Zagreb and took the remaining documents with them. He also said that the KOS had an extensive network of informants within Croatian intelligence services and the ruling Croatian Democratic Union in 1991. Čandić also testified that the railway bombing near Vinkovci was intended to implicate Croatian President Franjo Tuđman.{{sfn|Slobodna Dalmacija|12 November 2002}}

Bomb damage to the Jewish Community Centre was repaired between February and September 1992,{{sfn|JCZ|2012|p=14}} using government funds.{{sfn|Cvitanic|2011|p=47}}

Footnotes

References

;Books, scientific and professional journals

{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXygFoqg-G0C|title=Twilight of Impunity: The War Crimes Trial of Slobodan Milosevic|first=Judith|last=Armatta|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2010|isbn= 978-0-8223-4746-0|location=Durham, North Carolina}}
{{cite journal|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=28946&lang=en|journal=National Security and the Future|publisher=St. George Association|location=Zagreb, Croatia|issn=1332-4454|title=Kronologija raspada SFRJ i stvaranje Republike Hrvatske do 15. siječnja 1992.|language=hr|trans-title=Chronology of Breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia and Creation of the Republic of Croatia until 15 January 1992|first=Ivan|last=Bilić|volume=6|issue=1–2|date=March 2005|pages=73–184}}
{{cite book|ref={{harvid|CIA|2002}}|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jodpAAAAMAAJ|title=Balkan battlegrounds: a military history of the Yugoslav conflict, 1990–1995, Volume 2|author=Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|location=Washington, D.C.|year=2002|isbn=978-0-16-066472-4}}
{{cite book|title=Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States|year=1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmN95fFocsMC| ref={{harvid|EECIS|1999}}|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-85743-058-5|location=London, England}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIBmjEJePAgC|title=Culture and Customs of Croatia|first=Marilyn|last=Cvitanic|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|year=2011|isbn=978-0-313-35117-4}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCAbMi9yeGsC|title=The Serbian Project and Its Adversaries: A Strategy of War Crimes|first=James|last=Gow|publisher=C. Hurst & Co.|year=2003|isbn=978-1-85065-646-3|location=London, England}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORSMBFwjAKcC|title=The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook|first1=Matjaž|last1=Klemenčič|first2=Mitja|last2=Žagar|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|year=2004|isbn=978-1-57607-294-3}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5Px01NrM7QC|title=The Yugoslav Wars (1): Slovenia & Croatia 1991–95|first1=Nigel|last1=Thomas|first2=Krunislav|last2=Mikulan|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford, England|year=2006|isbn=978-1-84176-963-9|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218120417/http://books.google.hr/books?id=G5Px01NrM7QC|archive-date=2014-12-18}}

;News reports

{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Independent|10 October 1992}}|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/croatia-built-web-of-contacts-to-evade-weapons-embargo-1556500.html|title=Croatia built 'web of contacts' to evade weapons embargo|first=Christopher|last=Bellamy|date=10 October 1992|archive-date=10 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110025827/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/croatia-built-web-of-contacts-to-evade-weapons-embargo-1556500.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Times|3 March 1991}}|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/world/belgrade-sends-troops-to-croatia-town.html|first=Stephen|last=Engelberg|title=Belgrade Sends Troops to Croatia Town|date=3 March 1991|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002222925/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/world/belgrade-sends-troops-to-croatia-town.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|Nacional|27 February 2006}}|newspaper=Nacional (weekly)|date=27 February 2006|title=1789 agenata KOS-a u RH|trans-title=1789 KOS Agents in Croatia|language=hr|url=http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/23437/1789-agenata-kos-a-u-rh|first1=Berislav|last1=Jelinić|first2=Eduard|last2=Šoštarić|first3=Maroje|last3=Mihovilović|archive-date=15 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015190910/http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/23437/1789-agenata-kos-a-u-rh|url-status=dead}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|Slobodna Dalmacija|12 November 2002}}|url=http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20021112/novosti08.asp|title=KOS je imao svoje doušnike u redovima HDZ-ovih dužnosnika|trans-title=KOS had Informants in HDZ Ranks|newspaper=Slobodna Dalmacija|date=12 November 2002|language=hr|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029223138/http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20021112/novosti08.asp|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|Oslobođenje|1 October 2010}}|language=bs|newspaper=Oslobođenje|date=1 October 2010|url=http://www.oslobodjenje.ba/index.php?id=2780|title=Mustafa Čandić potvrdio višegodišnje pisanje Oslobođenja: Radončić je (bio) špijun Beograda|trans-title=Mustafa Čandić Confirms Years of Oslobođenje's Writing: Radončić is (was) Belgrade's Spy|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029213132/http://www.oslobodjenje.ba/index.php?id=2780|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Times|19 August 1990}}|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/world/roads-sealed-as-yugoslav-unrest-mounts.html|agency=Reuters|title=Roads Sealed as Yugoslav Unrest Mounts|date=19 August 1990|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921063029/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/world/roads-sealed-as-yugoslav-unrest-mounts.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Times|2 April 1991}}|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/02/world/rebel-serbs-complicate-rift-on-yugoslav-unity.html|title=Rebel Serbs Complicate Rift on Yugoslav Unity|first=Chuck|last=Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date= 2 April 1991|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002222938/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/02/world/rebel-serbs-complicate-rift-on-yugoslav-unity.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Times|26 June 1991}}|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html|title=2 Yugoslav States Vote Independence To Press Demands|first=Chuck|last=Sudetic|date=26 June 1991|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110162855/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html|archive-date=10 November 2012|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Times|29 June 1991}}|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/29/world/conflict-in-yugoslavia-2-yugoslav-states-agree-to-suspend-secession-process.html|title=Conflict in Yugoslavia; 2 Yugoslav States Agree to Suspend Secession Process|first=Chuck|last=Sudetic|date=29 June 1991|archive-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102082952/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Times|20 August 1991}}|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 August 1991|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/20/world/truce-in-croatia-on-edge-of-collapse.html|title=Truce in Croatia on Edge of Collapse|first=Chuck|last=Sudetic|archive-date=14 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614234951/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/20/world/truce-in-croatia-on-edge-of-collapse.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Jerusalem Post|3 February 1993}}|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|date=3 February 1993|first=Batsheva|last=Tsur|title=Anatomy of a Balkan Frame-up|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/321083857|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029212756/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/doc/321083857.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb%203,%201993&author=Batsheva%20Tsur&pub=Jerusalem%20Post&edition=&startpage=07&desc=ANATOMY%20OF%20A%20BALKAN%20FRAME-UP|id={{ProQuest|321083857}} |url-status=live}}
{{cite web|ref={{harvid|HRT|13 November 2002}}|publisher=Croatian Radiotelevision|date=13 November 2002|url=http://www.hrt.hr/arhiv/2002/11/13/HRT0023.html|title=Zašto je afera Labrador ostala u sjeni?|trans-title=Why Was Labrador Affair Sidetracked?|language=hr|archive-date=17 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017141921/http://www.hrt.hr/arhiv/2002/11/13/HRT0023.html|url-status=dead|access-date=12 December 2013}}

;International, governmental, and NGO sources

{{cite web|ref={{harvid|UNSC|28 December 1994}}|url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/XI-A.htm|publisher=United Nations Security Council|title=Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 (1992), S/1994/674/Add.2 (Vol. V)|first1=Dominic|last1=McAlea|first2=Colin|last2=Kaiser|first3=Terje|last3=Lund|first4=Oyvind|last4=Hoel|date=28 December 1994|access-date=8 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204025/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/XI-A.htm|archive-date=29 October 2013}}
{{cite journal|ref={{harvid|Narodne novine|8 October 1991}}|url=http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1991_10_53_1265.html|journal=Narodne novine|issue=53|issn=1333-9273|language=hr|title=Odluka|trans-title=Decision|date=8 October 1991}}
{{cite journal|journal=National Security and the Future|publisher=St. George Association|location=Zagreb, Croatia|issn=1332-4454|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=119825&lang=en|title=Izjava|trans-title=Statement|language=hr|first=Radenko|last=Radojčić|volume=10|issue=3–4|date=December 2009|pages=49–222}}
{{cite web|ref={{harvid|ICTY|12 June 2007}}|title=The Prosecutor vs. Milan Martic – Judgement|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/tjug/en/070612.pdf|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=12 June 2007}}
{{cite web|ref={{harvid|ICTY|11 November 2002}}|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=11 November 2002|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/021111ED.htm|title=Transcripts of the Trial of Slobodan Milošević|pages= 12732–12848}}
{{cite web|ref={{harvid|JCZ|2012}}|publisher=Jewish Community of Zagreb|year=2012|url=http://www.zoz.hr/files/sinagogasec.pdf|title=Židovi i Zagreb – Sinagoga i Zagreb, 1806.-2012.|trans-title=Jews and Zagreb – Synagogue and Zagreb, 1806–2012|access-date=2013-10-28|archive-date=2016-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305052457/http://www.zoz.hr/files/sinagogasec.pdf|url-status=dead}}

External links

{{cite web|publisher=B92|url=http://www.b92.net/info/emisije/katarza.php?yyyy=2003&mm=05&nav_id=108339|language=sr|title=Afera "opera"|trans-title=Opera Affair|date=10 May 2003|access-date=25 June 2010|archive-date=7 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607072040/http://www.b92.net/info/emisije/katarza.php?yyyy=2003&mm=05&nav_id=108339|url-status=dead}} – an interview with Branko Stanić and Slobodan Rakočević

Category:Military operations of the Croatian War of Independence

Category:Intelligence operations

Category:Propaganda during the Yugoslav Wars

Category:Serbian war crimes in the Croatian War of Independence

Category:False flag operations

Category:Antisemitism in Yugoslavia

Category:Battles and conflicts without fatalities

Category:1991 crimes in Croatia

Category:August 1991 in Yugoslavia

Category:Yugoslav Air Force

Category:Zagreb in the Croatian War of Independence

Category:1991 building bombings