Croatian Defence Forces

Common card · No. 351945

The Croatian Defence Forces (Croatian: Hrvatske obrambene snage, HOS) were the paramilitary arm of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992, during the first stages of the Yugoslav Wars. During the Croatian War of Independence, the HOS organised several early companies and participated in Croatia's defence. At the peak of the war in Croatia, the HOS was several battalions in size. The first HOS units were headed by Ante Paradžik, an HSP member who was killed by a group of Croatian police officers at a checkpoint near the Ministry of Internal Affairs building in September 1991. After the November 1991 general mobilisation in Croatia and the January 1992 cease-fire, the majority of the HOS was absorbed by the Croatian Army. The HOS units in Bosnia and Herzegovina consisted of Croats, Bosniaks and foreign volunteers led by Blaž Kraljević. On 9 August 1992, Kraljević and eight staff members were assassinated by soldiers of the Croatian Defence Council under the command of Mladen...

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