Operation Vihor

Operation Vihor
Part of the Croatian War of Independence
Location western Croatia Result Croatian advance halted
Belligerents
Croatia National Guard Croatian Police	Serb militia

Operation Vihor (in Croatian: Operacija Vihor) was the Croatian official name for a military action of the Croatian Army between December 12 and 13, 1991.

This Croatian operation was known as Operacija Una (Operation Una) by the Military of Serbian Krajina (SVK). "Vihor" was probably part of Operation "Una", as part of wider operation of liberation of whole region of Banija from the rebel Serbs, JNA and other forces supporting a Greater Serbian.

The operation began in the early morning of December 12, 1991, with the Croatian Army crossing a shallow part of the river Kupa, between villages of Gračanica Šišinečka and Stankovac, near the village Šišinec. The Croatian forces crossing the river were made up of one brigade and one tank battalion.

Preparations

Since the end of November the Croatian Army had been planning an operation to take control of the road which ran through Glina-Dvor na Uni and Una valley.
At that time, the Serbs of Krajina had occupied Banija almost entirely. The border between the confronting armies was the river Kupa.
Croatian Army's plan was to cross the river Kupa with one infantry brigade, supported by tanks and build up a bridgehead.
In second phase, other forces were supposed to cross the river and as soon as possible to take control of the road Glina-Petrinja, then to take the city of Glina and eventually the whole region.
For that purpose three brigades of the Croatian Army were engaged, 10 tanks and a diversion group for Kupa area (in Serb sources these were named "Ose" or "Osice").

Tanks were brought on the previous nights and masked on the banks of the river Kupa. It was decided that the crossing point would be a ford 45°26′50.69″N 16°04′36.76″E / 45.4474139°N 16.0768778°E / 45.4474139; 16.0768778 of the Kupa river, located on the border of villages Gračanica and Stankovac. December 12 was the day chosen to begin the offensive. That day the JNA planned the evacuation of Maršal Tito barracks in Zagreb, according to a separate agreement on a 24-hour truce.

The operation ended without major advances, except for several villages, and Croatian forces sustained casualties while retreating.

External links

• (Croatian) Polemos Nr.2/1999PDF (510 KB) Vlado Hodalj: 102. brigada Hrvatske vojske u operaciji Vihor 1991. godine
• (Croatian) Vjesnik Neprijatelj u Strugu ušao sa živim zidom, August 17, 2005
• Vojska.net Operation Whirlwind
• Panoramio - Photo of Kupa_pass_102_brigade Photo of the Kupa river crossing point at ford