| Operation Labrador | |
|---|---|
| Part of theCroatian War of Independence | |
| Type | Bombing |
| Location | 45°48′42″N15°58′54″E / 45.81154°N 15.981672°E /45.81154; 15.981672 |
| Target | Jewish Community Centre and Jewish graves at theMirogoj Cemetery |
| Date | 19 August 1991 |
| Executed by |  Yugoslav Air Force'sCounterintelligence Service |
| Casualties | None |
Zagreb on a map of Croatia | |
Operation Labrador was afalse flag operation carried out by theYugoslav Air Force'sCounterintelligence Service (KOS) in theCroatian capital city ofZagreb during the early stages of theCroatian 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 theMirogoj Cemetery; there were no casualties. Additional attacks targeted thenational railway network and were designed to implicate Croatian PresidentFranjo 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 aprisoner exchange. Five KOS agents involved in Operation Labrador were tried in theFederal 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 weretriedin absentia. Those in custody were acquitted, while those triedin absentia were convicted.
The existence of Operation Labrador was further confirmed through the testimony of a former KOS agent,Major Mustafa Čandić, during thetrial of Slobodan Milošević at theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2002.
In August 1990,an insurrection took place inCroatia centering in the predominantlySerb-populated areas of theDalmatian hinterland nearKnin,[1] theLika,Kordun, andBanovina regions, andeastern Croatia.[2] The areas were subsequently namedSAO Krajina (Serb Autonomous Oblast) and, after local leaders announced their intention to integrate SAO Krajina withSerbia, theGovernment of Croatia declared the SAO Krajina secession movement a rebellion.[3] By March 1991, the conflict had escalated into theCroatian War of Independence.[4] In June 1991, Croatiadeclared its independence asYugoslavia disintegrated.[5] A three-month moratorium followed,[6] after which the declaration came into effect on 8 October 1991.[7] The SAO Krajina, renamedRepublic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) on 19 December 1991, responded with a campaign ofethnic cleansing against Croatian civilians.[8]
With theYugoslav People's Army (JNA) lending support to SAO Krajina leadership and theCroatian Police unable to cope with the situation, theCroatian National Guard (ZNG) was formed in May 1991.[9] The development of themilitary of Croatia was hampered by a UNarms embargo introduced in September,[10] while themilitary conflict in Croatia continued to escalate.[11] The JNA maintained substantial forces in the Croatian capital,Zagreb, throughout 1991.[12]
In August 1991, theYugoslav Air Force'sCounterintelligence 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.[13] An alternative name for Operation Opera was Operation Opera-Orijentalis,[14] or Operation Opera Orientalis.[15]
Operation Labrador was headed byColonel GeneralSlobodan Rakočević, head of the Yugoslav Air Force branch of the KOS, based inZemun.[16][17] In Zagreb, operational control of Labrador was assigned toLieutenant Colonel Ivan Sabolović,[18] andMajor Čedo Knežević.[16] 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.[14][19] The explosives and other munitions were stored across several sites.[20]
On 19 August, theJewish Community Centre in Palmotićeva Street in Zagreb,[21] and Jewish graves at theMirogoj Cemetery, were bombed as a part of Operation Labrador.[22] The explosions caused property damage, but resulted in no casualties. There were no public claims of responsibility for the attack.[23] Aside from the two explosions in Zagreb, agents assigned to Operation Labrador were thought to also be responsible for bombing theZagreb–Belgrade railway nearVinkovci and a railway line betweenGlina andVojnić.[14] The railway attacks have also been ascribed to Operation Opera.[24]
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.[14] Operation Labrador was abandoned after the ZNG and the Croatian police captured the Yugoslav Air Force headquarters in Zagreb on 15 September 1991, during theBattle 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.[18] Sabolović later claimed that only a part of the Operation Labrador network was dismantled,[25] but he was contradicted by KOS Major Mustafa Čandić who was posted at the Zemun headquarters of KOS.[16][26]
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 byIvan Vekić andGojko Šušak, theninterior anddefence ministers, and initially headed byJosip Perković.[27] 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.[28] The operation also produced a list of suspected KOS operatives in Croatia containing 1,789 names andpseudonyms.[27]
Rakočević, Sabolović, Radojčić and two other former KOS agents were tried inBelgrade in 1993. The five were charged with instigation of terrorism and other crimes, but all were acquitted.[29] Radojčić was arrested again in Zagreb in late 1993.[27] 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 alltriedin absentia.[28]
Testifying at theTrial of Slobodan Milošević at theInternational 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 rulingCroatian Democratic Union in 1991. Čandić also testified that the railway bombing near Vinkovci was intended to implicateCroatian PresidentFranjo Tuđman.[30]
Bomb damage to the Jewish Community Centre was repaired between February and September 1992,[21] using government funds.[31]
