| Tovarnik massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of theCroatian War of Independence | |
   Tovarnik Tovarnik on the map of Croatia, JNA/SAO Krajina-held areas in late 1991 are highlighted in red | |
| Location | Tovarnik,Croatia |
| Date | 22 September 1991[a] |
| Target | Croats |
Attack type | Mass killing,ethnic cleansing |
| Deaths | 80 |
| Perpetrators | JNA and localSerb rebels |
TheTovarnik massacre was the mass murder ofCroat civilians by theYugoslav People's Army (JNA) and other Serb forces on 22 September 1991 in the village ofTovarnik.
During the September 1991Yugoslav Campaign in Croatia,JNA forces and local Serb rebels from surrounding areas, attacked and occupied several villages inEastern Slavonia and CroatianSyrmia (modern-dayVukovar-Srijem County) during theJNA-led offensive againstVukovar and adjacent areas.
The village ofTovarnik, on the border withSerbia, was located 25 kilometres from Vukovar. The JNA started to shell Tovarnik on 12 September 1991. An ultimatum was soon given to the residents of Tovarnik to surrender control of the village to the JNA. While negotiations were still ongoing, the JNA attacked and shelled the village on 20 September. The next day, the JNA entered the village with tanks.[1]
OnceJNA forces, and other local Serb rebels, entered the village they immediately began to abuse and kill the remaining Croat inhabitants that had not been able to flee, 68 Croat civilians were killed on 22 September 1991.[2] Among those killed in the aftermath was the village priestIvan Burik.[2][3]
According to the findings of theBelgrade-basedHumanitarian Law Centre, a total of 80 local residents of Tovarnik were killed by JNA and other Serb forces, during and after the attack on the village.[4]
In the months following the massacre, the local Croat civilian population that remained continued to be abused and persecuted.Croats were forced to wear white armbands to identify themselves.[2][better source needed] Civilians fromTovarnik and nearby areas continued to be psychologically and physically tortured, with some 300 civilians and POWs taken to nearby detention camps. The SAO Krajina soldiers had expelled 95% of the 2,500Croat inhabitants by the end of 1991 and had destroyed 75% of the homes and buildings in the village.[5]
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