OPERACIJA LABRADOR ( OPERATION LABRADOR)
March 14, 2015
vistler
Operation Labrador was a false flag operation carried out by the Yugoslav Air Force's Counterintelligence Service (KOS) in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb during the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence. It was devised as a series of terrorist attacks intended to create an image of Croatia as a pro-fascist state. Two bombings were carried out on 19 August 1991, with one at the Jewish Community Centre and a second near Jewish graves at the Mirogoj Cemetery; there were no casualties. Additional attacks targeted the national railway network and were designed to implicate the Croatian President. Operation Labrador was complemented by Operation Opera — a propaganda campaign devised by the KOS to feed disinformation to the media.
Further activities of Operation Labrador were abandoned in September, after Croatian authorities captured the Yugoslav Air Force regional headquarters in Zagreb, and confiscated documents related to the operation. The authorities took nearly a month to analyze the captured documents, allowing time for the principal agents involved in the bombings to flee. Fifteen others were arrested in connection with the attack, but they were subsequently released in a prisoner exchange. Five KOS agents involved in Operation Labrador were tried in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on terrorism charges and acquitted. Croatian authorities captured two KOS agents who were part of the operation and tried them along with seven other agents who were tried in absentia. Those in custody were acquitted, while those tried in absentia were convicted.
The existence of Operation Labrador was further confirmed through the testimony of a former KOS agent, Major Mustafa Čandić, during the trial of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2002.
Operation Labrador was a false flag operation carried out by the Yugoslav Air Force's Counterintelligence Service (KOS) in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb during the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence. It was devised as a series of terrorist attacks intended to create an image of Croatia as a pro-fascist state. Two bombings were carried out on 19 August 1991, with one at the Jewish Community Centre and a second near Jewish graves at the Mirogoj Cemetery; there were no casualties. Additional attacks targeted the national railway network and were designed to implicate the Croatian President. Operation Labrador was complemented by Operation Opera — a propaganda campaign devised by the KOS to feed disinformation to the media.
Further activities of Operation Labrador were abandoned in September, after Croatian authorities captured the Yugoslav Air Force regional headquarters in Zagreb, and confiscated documents related to the operation. The authorities took nearly a month to analyze the captured documents, allowing time for the principal agents involved in the bombings to flee. Fifteen others were arrested in connection with the attack, but they were subsequently released in a prisoner exchange. Five KOS agents involved in Operation Labrador were tried in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on terrorism charges and acquitted. Croatian authorities captured two KOS agents who were part of the operation and tried them along with seven other agents who were tried in absentia. Those in custody were acquitted, while those tried in absentia were convicted.
The existence of Operation Labrador was further confirmed through the testimony of a former KOS agent, Major Mustafa Čandić, during the trial of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2002.
Operacija Labrador je bila operacija dezinformacije i stvaranje negativnog imiđa Republike Hrvatske. Provedena je iz centara Jugoslavenskog Ratnog zrakoplovstva i Kontraobavještajne službe (KOS) u hrvatskom glavnom gradu Zagrebu u ranim fazama Domovinskog rata. Ona je zamišljena kao niz terorističkih napada namjerovajući stvoriti sliku o Hrvatskoj kao pro-fašističke države. Dva napada provedeni su 19. kolovoza 1991. godine, s jednim u zajednici Centra židovske sinagoge i drugi kod židovskovg groblja na Mirogoju, nije bilo žrtava. Dodatni napadi koji su bili ciljani su nacionalne željezničke mreže, te su dizajnirani tako da upućuju na hrvatskog predsjednika Franju Tuđmana kao mrzitelja Židova i velikog nacionalistu. Operaciji Labrador je dopunjena Operacija Opera - propagandna kampanja koju je osmislio KOS trebala je slati dezinformacije u medije.
Daljnje aktivnosti operacije Labrador su napušteni u rujnu, nakon što su hrvatske vlasti zarobili regionalno sjedište jugoslavenskog zrakoplovstva u Zagrebu, a zaplijenjeni dokumente koji se odnose na rad. Vlastima je trebalo skoro mjesec dana za analizu snimljenih dokumenata, za to vrijeme većina kosovih agenata je prebjegao. Petnaest osoba su uhićeni u vezi s napadom, planiranjem akcija ali su kasnije pušteni u razmjeni zarobljenika. Petorici pripadnika kontraobavještajne službe JNA. Sudionicima u operaciji Labrador sudilo se u Saveznoj Republici Jugoslaviji na temelju optužbi za terorizam i oslobođeni su. Hrvatske vlasti su zarobili dvojicu KOS agenata koji su bili dio operacije i pokušalo se osuditi još sedam agenata koji su nestali. Postojanje operacije Labrador dodatno je potvrđeno kroz svjedočenja bivšeg agenta KOS, bojnika Mustafa Čandić, za vrijeme suđenja Slobodanu Miloševiću pred Međunarodnim kaznenim sudom za bivšu Jugoslaviju 2002. godine. Hrvatski "odgovor" na operaciju Labrador.
