ZAGREB, August 1, 2018 - The eastern Croatian town of Dalj on Wednesday commemorated the 27th anniversary of the death of 39 Croatian soldiers killed by Serb rebels, supported by the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). In the massacre, 20 Croatian police officers, 15 soldiers and four Civil Defence members lost their lives.
The commemoration, which included a wreath-laying ceremony in front of the Dalj police station building, was attended by Interior Minister Davor Božinović who said this was one of the most tragic moments of the Homeland War.
The minister said this was also one of the brightest moments of the Homeland War in which the Croatian police, as the country's first organised defence force, made a great sacrifice together with members of the National Guard and the Civil Defence.
"What those young men showed then, later turned into a magnificent victory based on courage and their dream of an independent and free Croatia to come true," Božinović said.
After the commemoration, Requiem Mass was served at the local church.
At 0400 hours on 1 August 1991, Serb paramilitaries, backed by JNA artillery, began shelling the Dalj police station. Ten hours after the start of the attack, the paramilitaries occupied the police building and killed Croats they found on the premises.
Attacks by Serb paramilitaries caused an exodus from Dalj and the nearby villages of Aljmaš and Sarvaš to the city of Osijek on that day.
