First armed clashes in the conflict which became known as the Croatian War of Independence.
Battle of Borovo Selo
Part of the Croatian War of Independence and the Yugoslav Wars
Borovo Selo
Date
2 May 1991
Location
Borovo Selo, Croatia
Result
SAO Krajina and White Eagles victory
Belligerents
SAO Krajina
Croatia
Commanders and leaders
Vukašin Šoškoćanin Vojislav Šešelj
Josip Džaja Josip Reihl-Kir
Units involved
SAO Krajina militia Dušan the Mighty paramilitary unit White Eagles
Croatian Police
Strength
unknown
180 policemen
Casualties and losses
3-20 killed[1][2] 4 wounded
12 killed 22 wounded 2 captured
v
t
e
Croatian War of Independence
1991
Pakrac
Plitvice Lakes
Kijevo
Borovo Selo
Zadar riot
Split protest
Sisak
Stinger
Hrvatska Kostajnica
Labrador
Banija villages
Vukovar
Massacre
Osijek
Gospić
Massacre
Kusonje
Korana bridge
The Barracks
Varaždin
Bjelovar
Zadar
Šibenik
JNA campaign
Dubrovnik
Banski Dvori
Široka Kula
Lovas
Baćin
Barcs
Saborsko
Libertas convoy
Požega
Swath 10
Erdut
Dalmatian channels
Kostrići
Škabrnja
Vance plan
Whirlwind
Paulin Dvor
Gornje Jame
Orkan 91
Voćin
Joševica
Devil's Beam
Bruška
Vrsar airport
1992
Sarajevo
ECMM helicopter downing
Baranja
Jackal
Miljevci Plateau
Tiger
Liberated Land
Konavle
Vlaštica
1993
Maslenica
Medak Pocket
1994
Winter '94
1995
Leap 1
Flash
Medari
Zagreb
Leap 2
Summer '95
Storm
Komić
Kijani
Golubić
Uzdolje
Bosanski Petrovac bombing
Dvor
Grubori
Gošić
Maestral 2
Varivode
Timeline of all major events
Log Revolution
Events in Serbia
The Battle of Borovo Selo of 2 May 1991, known in Croatia as the Borovo Selo massacre (Croatian: Pokolj u Borovom Selu) and in Serbia as the Borovo Selo incident (Serbian: Инцидент у Боровом Селу), was one of the first armed clashes in the conflict which became known as the Croatian War of Independence. The clash was precipitated by months of rising ethnic tensions, violence, and armed combat in Pakrac and at the Plitvice Lakes in March. The immediate cause for the confrontation in the heavily ethnic Serb village of Borovo Selo, just north of Vukovar, was a failed attempt to replace the Yugoslav flag in the village with the flag of Croatia. The unauthorised effort by four Croatian policemen resulted in the capture of two by a Croatian Serb militia in the village. To retrieve the captives, the Croatian authorities deployed additional police, who drove into an ambush. Twelve Croatian policemen and one Serb paramilitary were killed before the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) intervened and put an end to the clashes.
The confrontation resulted in a further deterioration of the overall situation in Croatia, leading Croats and Serbs to accuse each other of overt aggression and of being enemies of their nation. For Croatia, the event was provocative because the bodies of some of the dead Croat policemen killed in the incident were reportedly mutilated. The clash in Borovo Selo eliminated any hopes that the escalating conflict could be defused politically and made the war almost inevitable. The Presidency of Yugoslavia convened several days after the battle and authorised the JNA to deploy to the area to prevent further conflict. Despite this deployment, skirmishes persisted in the region. After the war, a former paramilitary was convicted of war crimes for his role in abusing the two captured policemen, and ultimately sentenced to three years in prison. Four others were indicted, but remain at large outside Croatia.
^Crnobrnja, Mihailo (29 April 1996). Yugoslav Drama, Second Edition. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-6615-6.
^Legvold, Robert; Donia, Robert J.; Fine, John V. A. (1995). "Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed". Foreign Affairs. 74 (3): 181. doi:10.2307/20047169. ISSN 0015-7120.
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Global Information
SAO Krajina
Croatia
Vukašin Šoškoćanin
Vojislav Šešelj
Dušan the Mighty paramilitary unit
White Eagles
Croatian Police