1991 first armed clashes in the conflict which became known as the Croatian War of Independence
One of the first armed clashes of the Croatian War of Independence, making political resolution of the conflict effectively impossible.
Key Facts
- Date
- 2 May 1991
- Croatian police killed
- 12
- Serb paramilitary killed
- 1
- Croatian police captured
- 2
- War crimes sentence
- 3 years in prison
- Location
- Borovo Selo, north of Vukovar
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Months of rising ethnic tensions and violence in Croatia, including clashes in Pakrac and at Plitvice Lakes in March 1991, created a volatile atmosphere. The immediate trigger was an unauthorised attempt by four Croatian policemen to replace the Yugoslav flag in the heavily ethnic Serb village of Borovo Selo with the Croatian flag, resulting in two officers being captured by a Croatian Serb militia.
Croatian authorities dispatched additional police to retrieve the captured officers, but these reinforcements drove into an ambush in Borovo Selo on 2 May 1991. Twelve Croatian policemen and one Serb paramilitary were killed in the ensuing firefight before the Yugoslav People's Army intervened to halt the clashes. The bodies of some Croatian policemen were reportedly mutilated.
The battle deepened mutual accusations of aggression between Croats and Serbs and eliminated prospects of a political solution to the escalating conflict. Yugoslavia's Presidency convened within days and authorised JNA deployment to the region, but skirmishes continued. After the war, one paramilitary was convicted of war crimes related to the captured policemen, while four other indicted individuals remained at large outside Croatia.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent