PPN Jokery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PPN Jokery

PPN Jokery (HVO) .png

Sleeve badge
active 1992 to 1995 at the latest
Country Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna
Armed forces Croatian Defense Council
Armed forces army
Branch of service Military Police (from 1993)
Type Special unit
Strength about 30
Insinuation IV. Military Police Battalion
Location Nadioci (at Vitez)
Origin of the soldiers mainly from Busovača ( Central Bosnia )
Nickname Jokeri, Džokeri
equipment Assault rifles , hand grenades , flak vests , radios and anti- tank rifles
Butcher Bosnian War or Croatian-Bosniak War
commander
Important
commanders

Anto Furundžija (1993)

The PPN Jokery (also Jokeri or transliterated Džokeri ; German: "The Joker ", in the sense of a particularly valuable thing that can be used at the given time) was the special unit of the IV  Battalion of the Military Police of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). Members of the unit were instrumental in the Ahmići massacre on April 16, 1993, in which between 117 and 120 Bosniaks were killed. The PPN Jokery, led by Anto Furundžija at the time of the massacre, consisted of around 30 men and had special tasks such as observation , military reconnaissance , securing transports and preventing sabotage .

history

The unit was set up at the beginning of the Bosnian War and was apparently an independent unit directly subordinate to the headquarters of the HVO operational zone in Central Bosnia , based in Vitez . During the Croatian-Bosniak war , the unit was used as a mobile reserve for the Vitez enclave (regions around Vitez, Busovača and Novi Travnik ) held by Bosnian-Croatian troops . Presumably in January 1993, the PPN Jokery was subordinated as an " intervention " or " anti-terrorist unit " to the military police, which was under the command of Zvonko Vuković . She belonged to the IV Battalion of the Military Police under the command of Paško Ljubičić (* 1965).

At the time of the massacre, the unit was stationed in Nadioci (about 5 km east of Vitez) in the so-called " bungalow ", in peacetime a wooden house with a restaurant and overnight accommodation.

Ahmići mosque was blown up by men of the PPN Jokery (including Miroslav Bralo). On the day of the attack, Bosniak fighters barricaded themselves inside.

equipment

In accordance with its use, the unit was well equipped with personal weapons ( assault rifles , hand grenades , flak vests and radios ). As a rule, they did not have any heavy weapons, with the exception of anti-tank rifles . Their well-trained relatives are said to have worn full black in addition to the usual combat suits in camouflage patterns .

Known relatives

Web links

literature

  • Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] - Office of Russian and European Analysis (Ed.): Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Confict, 1990-1995 . tape II . Washington DC 2003, Annex 40 - The "Ahmici Massacre" of April 16, 1993: A Military Analysis, p. 417-420 .
  • Charles R. Shrader: The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992–1994 (=  Eastern European studies . Volume 23 ). Texas A&M University Press, 2003, ISBN 1-58544-261-5 , The ABiH Main Attack, April, 1993: Busovaca, Kiseljak, Zenica, and Elsewhere - Ahmici, pp. 92-95 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jasna Babić: Urota Blaškić . Večernji list, Zagreb 2005, ISBN 953-7161-63-3 , p. 57 .
  2. ↑ PPN is an abbreviation for Croatian Postrojbe za posebne namjene = unit for special use.
  3. ^ Report of the Sigurnosno-informativna služba (Military Intelligence Service of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna). (PDF) May 1, 1993, p. 3 , accessed on May 29, 2018 : “2. Slanje na lice mjesta postrojbe od 30 obućenih ljudi (PPN 4th bojne VP "JOKER") radi poslova osmatranja, izviđanja, djelimićnog osiguravanja transporta i presretanja eventualni diverzija od strane MS. "
  4. ↑ a b Balkan Battlegrounds (see literature), p. 418.
  5. ↑ a b Shrader (see literature), p. 94.