1991 in Croatia

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 42. Chapters: Battle of Vukovar, Siege of Dubrovnik, Vukovar massacre, Battle of the Barracks, Operation Coast-91, Battle of the Dalmatian channels, Borovo Selo killings, Gospic massacre, Plitvice Lakes incident, Vocin massacre, Battle of Osijek, Erdut massacre, Pakrac clash, siroka Kula massacre, skabrnja massacre, Saborsko massacre, Battle of sibenik, 1991 Dalmatian anti-Serb riots, Bombing of Banski dvori, Operation Otkos 10, Operation Orkan 91, Operation Vihor, Croatian independence referendum, 1991, JoSevica massacre, Dalj massacre, Bacin massacre, Brijuni Agreement, BruSka massacre, Ethnic cleansing of Lipovaca, Vukovici and Saborsko, Vukovar children massacre. Excerpt: The Battle of Vukovar (Croatian: , Serbian: ) was an 87-day siege of the eastern Croatian city of Vukovar by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various Serbian paramilitary forces - whose aim was to detach it from Croatia and annex it to the Republic of Serbian Krajina, which would form a union with Serbia and Montenegro - between August and November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. The town was defended by various Croatian soldiers and volunteers. It ended with the defeat of the local Croatian National Guard, the destruction of Vukovar, the death of at least 3,000 people as well as ethnic cleansing of at least 20,000 Croats from the city and surroundings. In its indictment against Slobodan MiloSevic, The ICTY gave a brief summary of the events: In late August, the JNA laid siege to the city of Vukovar. By mid-October 1991, all other predominately Croat towns in Eastern Slavonia had been taken by Serb forces except Vukovar. Non-Serbs were subjected to a brutal occupation regime consisting of persecution, murder, torture and other acts of violence. Almost all of the non-Serb population was eventually killed or forced from the occupied areas. The siege of Vukovar continued until 18 November 1991 when the city fell to the Serb forces. During the course of the three-month siege, the city was largely destroyed by JNA shelling and hundreds of persons were killed. When the JNA/Serb forces occupied the city, hundreds more Croats were killed by Serb troops. The non-Serb population of the city was expelled within days of its fall under Serb control. According to some estimates, Serbian gunners fired up to a million shells into Vukovar. It was the first European city entirely destroyed since World War II. Croatian officials placed the cost of damage at $2.5 billion and estimated a total of 15,000 destroyed houses. Although the battle was a significant and symbolic loss for Croatia, which did not regain control of the town until 1998 when the Croatian r