Škabrnja massacre

The Škabrnja massacre was the killing of 62 Croatian civilians and five prisoners of war by Serbian Autonomous Oblast Krajina (SAO Krajina) Territorial Defence troops and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in the villages of Škabrnja and Nadin east of Zadar on 18–19 November 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The massacre occurred shortly after an agreement to evacuate Zadar's JNA garrison following an increase in fighting between the Croatian National Guard (renamed the Croatian Army in November 1991) and the JNA. Most of the killings were committed by SAO Krajina troops which followed the leading armoured JNA units fighting their way into Škabrnja on 18 November. During the initial attack, the attacking force employed a human shield of captured civilians forced to walk in front of armoured vehicles. Most of the civilian population fled the village and about 120–130 were captured by the JNA and detained in the village school and kindergarten. However, others who took shelter in basements were killed in or just outside their homes. A portion of those killed in the massacre were buried in a mass grave in Škabrnja, while dozens of bodies were turned over to Croatian authorities. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Croatian Serb political leaders and later presidents of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, Milan Babić and Milan Martić, for war crimes including the killings committed in Škabrnja and Nadin. Babić was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2004, and Martić was handed a 35-year prison sentence in 2007. The ICTY also indicted Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in connection with the Škabrnja massacre, but his trial never produced a verdict as he died before one could be rendered. In November 1991, 26 individuals were convicted in absentia by Croatian authorities for war crimes committed in Škabrnja and Nadin. Most remain at large, though some have been re-tried and convicted for their involvement in the massacre while several others have returned to Croatia and had their convictions overturned.

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Zadar

Zadar (USˈzɑːdɑːr , zâdar; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ˈdzaːra; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serves as the seat of Zadar County and of the wider northern Dalmatian region. The city proper covers with a population of 75,082 , making it the second-largest city of the region of Dalmatia and the fifth-largest city in the country.

Škabrnja massacre

Operation Storm

Operation Storm (Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), and a strategic victory for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). The HV was supported by the Croatian special police advancing from the Velebit Mountain, and the ARBiH located in the Bihać pocket, in the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina's (ARSK) rear.