text: siege of varaždin barracks the siege of varaždin barracks , also referred to locally as varaždin 's days of war ( croatian : dani rata ) , was the blockade and capture of the yugoslav people 's army ( jna ) barracks and other facilities in and around the city of varaždin during the croatian war of independence . the blockade began on 14 september 1991 , quickly escalated into fighting , and ended on 22 september with the surrender of the jna garrison . it was part of the battle of the barracks — an effort by croatian armed forces to isolate jna units based at barracks in croatia , or capture the barracks to provide arms for croatia 's nascent army . the besieging force outnumbered the jna garrison in varaždin , which was divided among several barracks , storage depots and other facilities , but the jna possessed substantially greater firepower . the balance shifted in favour of the croatian forces after smaller jna posts were captured in the first few days of the siege , until only one barracks along with the headquarters of the jna 32nd corps remained under jna control . at that point , the commander of the 32nd corps , major general vladimir trifunović , and the civilian authorities in varaždin agreed that the remaining jna forces in the city would surrender , but all those wishing to leave would be permitted to do so , leaving their weapons behind . the capture of the 32nd corps ' weapons was the most significant achievement of the battle of the barracks , and greatly augmented the capabilities of the croatian military . after he left croatia , trifunović was indicted for war crimes by croatia , tried in absentia and convicted for the combat deaths of six croatian soldiers and the wounding of dozens of croatian citizens before and during the siege . he was also prosecuted by yugoslav authorities for treason , but subsequently pardoned . in 2013 , he requested a re - trial on his croatian war crimes conviction . background in 1990 , ethnic tensions between serbs and croats worsened after the electoral defeat of the government of the socialist republic of croatia by the croatian democratic union ( croatian : hrvatska demokratska zajednica – hdz ) . the yugoslav people 's army ( serbian : jugoslovenska narodna armija – jna ) confiscated croatia 's territorial defence ( croatian : teritorijalna obrana – to ) weapons to minimize resistance . on 17 august , the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the croatian serbs , centred on the predominantly serb - populated areas of the dalmatian hinterland around knin ( approximately 60 kilometres ( 37 miles ) north - east of split ) , parts of the lika , kordun , banovina and eastern croatia . in january 1991 , serbia , supported by montenegro and serbia 's provinces of vojvodina and kosovo , unsuccessfully tried to obtain the yugoslav presidency 's approval for a jna operation to disarm croatian security forces . the request was denied and a bloodless skirmish between serb insurgents and croatian special police in march prompted the jna itself to ask the federal presidency to give it wartime authority and declare a state of emergency . even though the request was backed by serbia and its allies , the jna request was refused on 15 march . serbian president slobodan milošević , preferring a campaign to expand serbia rather than to preserve yugoslavia with croatia as a federal unit , publicly threatened to replace the jna with a serbian army and declared that he no longer recognized the authority of the federal presidency . the threat caused the jna to abandon plans to preserve yugoslavia in favour of expansion of serbia as the jna came under milošević 's control . by the end of march , the conflict had escalated with the first fatalities . in early april , leaders of the serb revolt in croatia declared their intention to amalgamate the areas under their control with serbia . these were viewed by the government of croatia as breakaway regions . at the beginning of 1991 , croatia had no regular army . to bolster its defence , croatia doubled its police numbers to about 20 , 000 . the most effective part of the croatian police force was 3 , 000 - strong special police comprising twelve battalions organised along military lines . there were also 9 , 000 – 10 , 000 regionally organised reserve police in 16 battalions and 10 companies , but they lacked weapons . in response to the deteriorating situation , the croatian government established the croatian national guard ( croatian : zbor narodne garde – zng ) in may by expanding the special police battalions into four all - professional guards brigades . under ministry of defence control and commanded by retired jna general martin špegelj , the four guards brigades comprised approximately 8 , 000 troops . the reserve police , also expanded to 40 , 000 , was attached to the zng and reorganised into 19 brigades and 14 independent battalions . the guards brigades were the only units of the zng that were fully equipped with small arms ; throughout the zng there was a lack of heavier weapons and there was poor command and control structure above the brigade level . the shortage of heavy weapons was so severe that the zng resorted to using world war ii weapons taken from museums and film studios . at the time , the croatian weapon stockpile consisted of 30 , 000 small arms purchased abroad and 15 , 000 previously owned by the police . to replace the personnel lost to the guards brigades , a new 10 , 000 - strong special police was established . prelude the views of the croatian leadership on how to deal with the jna 's role in the croatian serb revolt gradually evolved between january and september 1991 . croatian president franjo tuđman 's initial plan was to win european community ( ec ) and united states support ; so he dismissed advice to seize jna barracks and storage facilities in the country . this course of action was first advocated by špegelj in late 1990 ; he again urged tuđman to act while the jna fought slovenia 's to in the ten - day war in june – july 1991 . špegelj 's calls were echoed by šime đodan , who succeeded špegelj as defence minister in july . špegelj remained in command of the zng . tuđman 's initial stance was based on his belief that croatia could not win a war against the jna . the zng was therefore limited to defensive operations , even though the actions of the jna appeared to be coordinated with croatian serb forces . this impression was reinforced by buffer zones established by the jna after fighting between croatian serb militia and the zng . the jna often intervened after the zng had lost territory , leaving the croatian serbs in control of areas they had captured before the jna stepped in . the jna provided some weapons to the croatian serbs , although most of their weaponry was sourced from serbia 's to and the serbian ministry of internal affairs . in july 1991 , špegelj and đodan 's advice was supported by a number of croatian parliament members . in response , tuđman dismissed đodan the same month he was appointed defence minister , and špegelj resigned his command of the zng on 3 august . the deteriorating situation in eastern croatia , including the jna expulsion of zng troops from baranja , intermittent fighting around osijek , vukovar and vinkovci , increasing losses and the growing conviction that the jna were actively supporting the croatian serb revolt , forced tuđman to act . on 22 august , he issued an ultimatum to the federal yugoslav authorities demanding the withdrawal of the jna to its barracks by the end of the month . the ultimatum stated that if the jna failed to comply , croatia would consider it an army of occupation and take corresponding action . on 1 september , the ec proposed a ceasefire and a peace conference was accepted by the yugoslav presidency and by tuđman , despite his earlier ultimatum . the conference started on 7 september , but only four days later , the croatian member and chair of the presidency , stjepan mesić , ordered the jna to return to its barracks within 48 hours . this order was motivated by tuđman 's concern that the conference would drag on while the zng lost territory . even though the order was opposed by other members of the presidency , it gave croatia justification to openly confront the jna . prime minister franjo gregurić advised tuđman to implement špegelj 's plan . according to general anton tus , tuđman ordered the zng to capture jna barracks on 12 september , but rescinded the order the next day . the order was reinstated on 14 september after tus pleaded with tuđman to re - authorize action , arguing that the zng was running out of time . the same day , the zng and the croatian police blockaded and cut utilities to all jna facilities it had access to , beginning the battle of the barracks . this action comprised blockades of 33 large jna garrisons in croatia , and numerous smaller facilities , including border posts , and weapons and ammunition storage depots . order of battle varaždin was the garrison of the jna 32nd corps commanded by major general vladimir trifunović . in addition to the corps headquarters there were several other jna facilities in and around the city . the most substantial of these were located in varaždin itself – the barracks where colonel popov 's 32nd mechanised brigade was based , and the jalkovečke žrtve barracks of the 32nd mixed artillery regiment , commanded by lieutenant colonel vladimir . the corps ' area of responsibility extended beyond varaždin and its immediate surroundings , where further significant combat units were based . the most significant among them were the 32nd engineer regiment in čakovec , the 411th mixed antitank artillery regiment based in križevci , the 73rd motorised brigade headquartered in koprivnica , the 265th mechanised brigade based in bjelovar , and the 288th mixed antitank artillery brigade in virovitica . in varaždin itself , the jna units included approximately 1 , 000 troops , making the jna garrison of varaždin the second largest in croatia . despite this , the jna did not have sufficient number of troops in the area to secure all its facilities . croatian forces in and around varaždin and nearby čakovec consisted of 640 zng troops ( including 60 who had been deployed from zagreb ) , 100 police , 300 people 's protection ( narodna ) troops and several hundred armed civilians . the zng troops were subordinated to the 104th brigade and to the 5th battalion of the 1st guards brigade – but were lightly armed . besides small arms , they had only 17 mortars , two malyutka anti - tank guided missile systems , two 12 . 7 - millimetre ( 0 . 50 in ) anti - aircraft machine guns and four armoured personnel carriers . initially , command of croatian forces in the city was not unified and colonel želimir škarec of the general staff of the armed forces of the republic of croatia only had a coordination role . timeline first hostilities a blockade of the jna facilities in and around varaždin was ordered on 13 september 1991 , which took effect the next day when utilities and access to the barracks were cut . in response , the corps command informed croatian forces that they could no longer guarantee peace unless utilities were restored and jna military vehicles were allowed to move freely . on 15 september , the corps began preparing for the demolition of all minor military facilities which could not be defended . at the same time , negotiations began between the corps command and civilian authorities in varaždin . at 15 : 30 , the yugoslav air force attacked the varaždin airfield . the strike was intended to disrupt flights of antonov an - 2 agricultural aircraft converted to carry 1 . 5 tonnes ( 1 . 5 long tons ; 1 . 7 short tons ) of cargo — transporting weapons from the hungarian town of nagykanizsa . the attacking force comprised two planes sortied from željava air base , which broke the sound barrier above varaždin to produce a sonic boom and bombed the airfield . one bomb destroyed an an - 2 on the ground and damaged the runway , while the second landed in a nearby field . between 16 : 50 and 17 : 07 , there was an exchange of small arms fire between the jna troops in the corps headquarters and a nearby police checkpoint , and at 17 : 35 a mortar attack was launched by the 32nd mechanised brigade . the mortar fire targeted the police station and surrounding buildings , and an electrical substation in the nearby village of . the civilian authorities in varaždin promptly notified the european community monitoring mission of damage to the city . by 16 september , the jna artillery bombardment of the city had extended to various street intersections and approaches to the drava bridge on the varaždin – čakovec road . the latter was counter - battery fire , targeting zng mortars which fired approximately 150 bombs against the jna during the entire operation . by the end of 16 september , 42 jna officers and soldiers had deserted from the 32nd mechanised brigade . the jna ordered its border guards posted along the hungarian border from čakovec to ludbreg to lay land mines around their facilities , then cross into hungary and surrender to that country 's authorities . peak of the fighting on 17 september , the commander of the 104th brigade , colonel ivan , took command of all croatian forces in varaždin . the yugoslav air force attacked an airfield in čakovec , mimicking the strike carried out in varaždin a few days earlier . that evening , the heaviest fighting of the siege erupted in varaždin , and the 104th brigade reported it was uncertain how long it would be able to maintain the blockades . croatian forces received additional weapons that day , after the jna garrisons in čakovec , križevci and virovitica surrendered to the zng . in varaždin itself , corps - level units of the jna 32nd corps based at the 15 . barracks also surrendered to the zng that day . the following day , fighting intensified again , as croatian forces captured several minor jna facilities in varaždin itself — leaving the corps headquarters , the barracks and the jalkovečke žrtve barracks as the only jna - held military bases in the city . in the course of this fighting , the zng suffered one fatality and captured nine jna officers and 30 soldiers . on 19 september , croatian forces managed to interdict radio communications between the 32nd mechanised brigade artillery and its artillery observers , and set up their own transmitter to direct jna artillery fire against the jalkovečke žrtve barracks . this deception was designed to deceive into thinking that the zng had much greater firepower than it did . the plan worked and when zng troops entered the barracks compound that day , the 32nd mixed artillery regiment ( four officers and 196 soldiers ) surrendered . late in the evening of 19 september , croatian police and elements of the 3rd battalion of the 104th brigade secured the weapons storage facility located in the village of near varaždin , after its jna commander surrendered the facility and its garrison of 60 without resistance . the capture of jna weapons greatly improved the croatian position in negotiations when trying to convince jna commanding officers of the 32nd corps to surrender . surrender of the jna garrison the blockade continued for two more days , with continuing clashes between croatian and jna troops . on 21 september , the 32nd corps found itself in a difficult position . it reported that it could not continue to resist as its weapons and ammunition storage facilities had been lost , and all the barracks had been captured except the base of the 32nd mechanised brigade . furthermore , it noted that there was a possibility that the remaining troops might desert en masse . according to trifunović , he notified colonel general života avramović , his immediate superior and commander of the 5th military district , of his intention to surrender . avramović then told trifunović to do as he saw fit . a croatian ultimatum was issued early on 22 september , demanding the surrender of jna troops in the city , and offering its personnel the chance to leave croatia " honourably " . trifunović accepted the croatian terms at 11 : 00 . aftermath one jna officer and one non - commissioned officer were killed during the fighting , and 15 jna troops were wounded . croatian forces sustained losses of two killed and 24 wounded . two civilians were also killed . approximately 1 , 000 jna officers and soldiers surrendered to the zng . the officers and their families living in varaždin , as well as approximately 450 soldiers who wanted to leave croatia were transported to serbia in a convoy comprising twelve buses and several passenger cars . the convoy was provided with a police escort and two representatives of the civilian authorities in varaždin accompanied the convoy as hostages to guarantee its safe passage . one of the hostages was radimir čačić , who became deputy prime minister of croatia 20 years later . the zng captured 74 t - 55 tanks , approximately ten special - purpose vehicles ( such as pt - 76 amphibious light tanks ) , armoured recovery vehicles , and armoured vehicle - launched bridges , 48 bvp m - 80 infantry fighting vehicles , 18 self - propelled anti - aircraft weapons , six self - propelled howitzers , six m - 63 plamen and four m - 77 multiple rocket launchers , eighteen 155 - millimetre ( 6 . 1 in ) and twelve 152 - millimetre ( 6 . 0 in ) guns with towing vehicles , approximately 180 artillery pieces below 100 - millimetre ( 3 . 9 in ) calibre , several batteries of 60 - millimetre ( 2 . 4 in ) , 82 - millimetre ( 3 . 2 in ) and 120 - millimetre ( 4 . 7 in ) mortars , 25 , 000 small arms , 250 vehicles and pieces of engineering equipment , a large stock of communication equipment and several hundred thousand tonnes of ammunition . some of the weapons had been disabled on trifunović 's orders shortly before the surrender . the captured weapons were distributed to units deployed in eastern slavonia , lika and dalmatia , and were also used to equip new zng units . when the last jna - held barracks and the 32nd corps headquarters surrendered , only two major jna bases remained in the area of responsibility of the corps — bjelovar and koprivnica . the jna 's bjelovar garrison was captured by the zng a week later , while its barracks in koprivnica surrendered a day after that . the capture of the jna barracks in and around varaždin , and particularly the storage facilities of the 32nd corps was very significant for development of croatian military . the capture of the barracks is celebrated annually in varaždin , and is locally referred to as " varaždin 's days of war " ( dani rata ) . war crimes charges were brought against trifunović in croatia , where he was indicted for the combat deaths of six croatian soldiers in and around varaždin , and the wounding of a further 37 individuals ( both soldiers and civilians ) . after a trial in absentia , he was found guilty and in 1991 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison . in 1994 , trifunović was charged with treason by yugoslav authorities for surrendering the entire jna 32nd corps to the zng . he was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison . in early 1996 , he was pardoned and released , and the yugoslav authorities paid him € 62 , 000 compensation for spending nearly two years in prison . in 2013 , trifunović formally requested re - trial in croatia .