2RHPZ
05-10-2004, 10:53 AM
I don´t want to start another mouth-war on Balkan! This is just an article:
Munja (Lightning)
Lightning was created in early 1998 in response to widening attacks by the Kosovo Liberation Army in and around Pec. The unit was established as an auxiliary to the Special Police Units (PJP) of the Serbian Interior Ministry, according to several fighters. Lightning had between 30 and 50 members and numerous armored vehicles which were stored at the Yugoslav Army barracks in Pec before the NATO air war. "Lightning" units wore the same camouflage uniforms of the PJP but often attached a shoulder flash of a Lightning bolt. "They were the guys who would go into places no one else wanted to," says one Serbian police reservist. "When they were in front of us, our casualties were reduced to a minimum. Of course, Lightning would destroy everything, and I mean everything."
Like the other Serbian militias, Lightning also benefited from informal connections to police and military commanders as well as political circles. Several fighters say the group had close connections in Pec to members of the Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj and with the office of the Pec mayor, Jovo Popovic. During the war, Popovic was deputy chief of the emergency ruling council appointed by the Yugoslav Army. Another important contactnection was to the chief of the military police in Pec, who was said to provide Lightning access to information and operations in exchange for a cut of looted Albanian property.
Lightning's commander was Nebojsa Minic, a career-criminal who called himself "The Dead" (Mrtvi). But by most accounts the military brain of the group was a Serbian police officer named Vidomir Salipur. Salipur had earlier joined the OPG (Operativna Grupa) as a police officer. According to one police source, he left the OPG for Lightning for "more autonomy in operations and to be a commander." Other Lightning members reportedly included: Mico Martinovic, Djuro Kastratovic, Milan Kaljevic and Obrad Rajicevic.
Lightning participated in several major battles against the KLA, including one at Jablanica. Salipur and the others were also notorious in Pec for beating and terrorizing ethnic Albanians. According to the war diary of a local Serbian woman, the story goes that Albanian mothers would put their children to sleep singing "sleep, sleep, so that Salipur does not come." By most accounts, Lightning's members were tight-knit. Salipur's sister was said to be married to another Lightning commander, Srecko Popovic. Several fighters said Popovic, who was originally from southern Serbia, arranged the transport of looted property to Serbia. Popovic reportedly now owns a café in Novi Sad. Following Salipur's death in a KLA ambush in April, 1999, (read obituary on the Serbian Interior Ministry site) Lightning fell on hard times. As other members died in battle its size shrank rapidly so that less than a dozen men are thought to have survived.
Not all the Serbian fighters praised Lightning's combat skills. "They were always screwing things up," said one Serbian police officer, whose job was to deliver communication equipment and orders to militia units from the Serbian police command in Pristina. "They were sloppy. They weren't disciplined...But we needed them."
OPG - "Operativna Grupa"
The "Operations Group" was created in Kosovo as a secret, elite "antiterrorist" unit. According to several Serbian fighters, the OPG participated in some of the most infamous massacres in Kosovo, including Donje Prekaze, Racak and Cuska. The OPG consisted of top police officers from throughout Kosovo and from Serbia proper. The unit was reportedly created in late 1997 and was trained in Serbia. A former Serbian secret policeman gave a detailed account of the OPG: "There was a need for this unit because in certain actions (against the KLA) the regular police units had proved to be ineffectual and were suffering large casualties. The Red Berets (special forces of the Serbian state security: see below) were too busy to get involved in operations in the inner part of
Kosovo but the police needed units for quick operations that could be carried out in complete secrecy."
"The units usually operated in 12-man or 24-man teams. Men from other police units had very little contact with the OPG, especially before the air strikes. That's why they were called Fog?they would disappear without a trace....The OPG was assigned to special tasks, to destroy the core of enemy units, to make surprise attacks and to terrorize local Albanian populations. This included killing civilians in KLA areas in order to quench any desire for insurgency...that was the case in Racak...OPG was a powerful team and an effective one but they participated in many crimes that left many civilians dead."
The OPG wore different uniforms for different actions but they were best known for their black uniforms and their western weaponry. "They didn't use Russian or Yugoslav-made weapons, you know AK-47s. They had the most modern NATO weapons. It was impressive." OPG members were reportedly fond of Heckler-Koch machine guns.
Serbian police sources say the OPG was under the direct command of General Obrad Stevanovic, the commander of Serbia's special police force and one of Slobodan Milosevic's most important commanders. The OPG was apparently part of the Interior Ministry's special antiterrorist unit (SAJ), which Gen. Stevanovic commanded. Founded in 1995 by General Radovan Stojicic?Badza, the SAJ was by most accounts the most elite unit within the Serbian Interior Ministry (excluding the Department of State Security). Following Stojicic's assassination in Belgrade, the SAJ recruited new members in Kosovo and expanded its size to as many as 1,000 men. The SAJ was best known for its use of black uniforms and western-made weaponry, according to military sources.
The Frenkies
The most secretive of the Serbian units who fought in Kosovo and allegedly took part in the massacre at Cuska. The Frenkies were part of the special forces of the Serbian state security, also known as the "Red Berets." They were named for Franko Simatovic, a shadowy commander who reportedly masterminded major operations in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. Simatovic was closely connected in Bosnia and Croatia to the militia units of Zeljko Raznatovic (better known as Arkan) and Vojislav Seselj. In Kosovo, the Frenkies were a highly-disciplined unit that conducted commando operations. They were known for their sophisticated weapons (western-made) and communications gear and their green bush hats, commonly referred to by Albanians as "cowboy hats." They usually moved around in black or green SUVs (several fighters say the Frenkies preferred Jeep Cherokees). According to one Serbian police commando, the Frenkies used different names for different operations. "They had total authority. They could do anything. They had weapons we could only dream about."
One former member of the Frenkies, Milos, says he fought in the Croatian war and was recruited by his ex-commanders.
"This was a secret police for liquidation, for different kinds of operations," he says. "This was completely illegal?it's not written in the laws or the constitution. But every state has something like this, even those who say they support human rights, like the United States."
"We came to Kosovo in February (1999). There were about 1,000 of us in the group. This probably grew at the beginning of the war, maybe to 1500 people. There were 20 or 30 in each squad, with a main commander."
"Our aim at the beginning was very simply to destroy the KLA, its base and its illegal state...You can go to Interpol and they'll tell you what kind of criminal gangs these were."
Milos describes his unit as absolute professionals and heaps scorn on other militia units like Lightning. "We were professionals. We weren't interested in killing women and children. Our job was to kill the KLA and that's what we did...I think a man who is prepared to rape and mutilate civilians, someone who would attack a village just to massacre civilians, whatever nation that man is from, that person brings no honor to his nation. I would liquidate them immediately. No courts, just executions."
In addition to bonuses for special operations, Milos says Frenkie units were paid around $8,000 per month during the war in Kosovo. "We were well-paid. But we were the best and we took huge risks." He says he never saw Simatovic in person. "None of us did. That is the way he is."
Milos says he was not at Cuska but several other fighters say it was Frenkie commanders who pressed for the attack. "They couldn't stand having any Albanian villages left," says one police officer. "They wanted to get rid of every last village in the Pec area."
Munja (Lightning)
Lightning was created in early 1998 in response to widening attacks by the Kosovo Liberation Army in and around Pec. The unit was established as an auxiliary to the Special Police Units (PJP) of the Serbian Interior Ministry, according to several fighters. Lightning had between 30 and 50 members and numerous armored vehicles which were stored at the Yugoslav Army barracks in Pec before the NATO air war. "Lightning" units wore the same camouflage uniforms of the PJP but often attached a shoulder flash of a Lightning bolt. "They were the guys who would go into places no one else wanted to," says one Serbian police reservist. "When they were in front of us, our casualties were reduced to a minimum. Of course, Lightning would destroy everything, and I mean everything."
Like the other Serbian militias, Lightning also benefited from informal connections to police and military commanders as well as political circles. Several fighters say the group had close connections in Pec to members of the Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj and with the office of the Pec mayor, Jovo Popovic. During the war, Popovic was deputy chief of the emergency ruling council appointed by the Yugoslav Army. Another important contactnection was to the chief of the military police in Pec, who was said to provide Lightning access to information and operations in exchange for a cut of looted Albanian property.
Lightning's commander was Nebojsa Minic, a career-criminal who called himself "The Dead" (Mrtvi). But by most accounts the military brain of the group was a Serbian police officer named Vidomir Salipur. Salipur had earlier joined the OPG (Operativna Grupa) as a police officer. According to one police source, he left the OPG for Lightning for "more autonomy in operations and to be a commander." Other Lightning members reportedly included: Mico Martinovic, Djuro Kastratovic, Milan Kaljevic and Obrad Rajicevic.
Lightning participated in several major battles against the KLA, including one at Jablanica. Salipur and the others were also notorious in Pec for beating and terrorizing ethnic Albanians. According to the war diary of a local Serbian woman, the story goes that Albanian mothers would put their children to sleep singing "sleep, sleep, so that Salipur does not come." By most accounts, Lightning's members were tight-knit. Salipur's sister was said to be married to another Lightning commander, Srecko Popovic. Several fighters said Popovic, who was originally from southern Serbia, arranged the transport of looted property to Serbia. Popovic reportedly now owns a café in Novi Sad. Following Salipur's death in a KLA ambush in April, 1999, (read obituary on the Serbian Interior Ministry site) Lightning fell on hard times. As other members died in battle its size shrank rapidly so that less than a dozen men are thought to have survived.
Not all the Serbian fighters praised Lightning's combat skills. "They were always screwing things up," said one Serbian police officer, whose job was to deliver communication equipment and orders to militia units from the Serbian police command in Pristina. "They were sloppy. They weren't disciplined...But we needed them."
OPG - "Operativna Grupa"
The "Operations Group" was created in Kosovo as a secret, elite "antiterrorist" unit. According to several Serbian fighters, the OPG participated in some of the most infamous massacres in Kosovo, including Donje Prekaze, Racak and Cuska. The OPG consisted of top police officers from throughout Kosovo and from Serbia proper. The unit was reportedly created in late 1997 and was trained in Serbia. A former Serbian secret policeman gave a detailed account of the OPG: "There was a need for this unit because in certain actions (against the KLA) the regular police units had proved to be ineffectual and were suffering large casualties. The Red Berets (special forces of the Serbian state security: see below) were too busy to get involved in operations in the inner part of
Kosovo but the police needed units for quick operations that could be carried out in complete secrecy."
"The units usually operated in 12-man or 24-man teams. Men from other police units had very little contact with the OPG, especially before the air strikes. That's why they were called Fog?they would disappear without a trace....The OPG was assigned to special tasks, to destroy the core of enemy units, to make surprise attacks and to terrorize local Albanian populations. This included killing civilians in KLA areas in order to quench any desire for insurgency...that was the case in Racak...OPG was a powerful team and an effective one but they participated in many crimes that left many civilians dead."
The OPG wore different uniforms for different actions but they were best known for their black uniforms and their western weaponry. "They didn't use Russian or Yugoslav-made weapons, you know AK-47s. They had the most modern NATO weapons. It was impressive." OPG members were reportedly fond of Heckler-Koch machine guns.
Serbian police sources say the OPG was under the direct command of General Obrad Stevanovic, the commander of Serbia's special police force and one of Slobodan Milosevic's most important commanders. The OPG was apparently part of the Interior Ministry's special antiterrorist unit (SAJ), which Gen. Stevanovic commanded. Founded in 1995 by General Radovan Stojicic?Badza, the SAJ was by most accounts the most elite unit within the Serbian Interior Ministry (excluding the Department of State Security). Following Stojicic's assassination in Belgrade, the SAJ recruited new members in Kosovo and expanded its size to as many as 1,000 men. The SAJ was best known for its use of black uniforms and western-made weaponry, according to military sources.
The Frenkies
The most secretive of the Serbian units who fought in Kosovo and allegedly took part in the massacre at Cuska. The Frenkies were part of the special forces of the Serbian state security, also known as the "Red Berets." They were named for Franko Simatovic, a shadowy commander who reportedly masterminded major operations in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. Simatovic was closely connected in Bosnia and Croatia to the militia units of Zeljko Raznatovic (better known as Arkan) and Vojislav Seselj. In Kosovo, the Frenkies were a highly-disciplined unit that conducted commando operations. They were known for their sophisticated weapons (western-made) and communications gear and their green bush hats, commonly referred to by Albanians as "cowboy hats." They usually moved around in black or green SUVs (several fighters say the Frenkies preferred Jeep Cherokees). According to one Serbian police commando, the Frenkies used different names for different operations. "They had total authority. They could do anything. They had weapons we could only dream about."
One former member of the Frenkies, Milos, says he fought in the Croatian war and was recruited by his ex-commanders.
"This was a secret police for liquidation, for different kinds of operations," he says. "This was completely illegal?it's not written in the laws or the constitution. But every state has something like this, even those who say they support human rights, like the United States."
"We came to Kosovo in February (1999). There were about 1,000 of us in the group. This probably grew at the beginning of the war, maybe to 1500 people. There were 20 or 30 in each squad, with a main commander."
"Our aim at the beginning was very simply to destroy the KLA, its base and its illegal state...You can go to Interpol and they'll tell you what kind of criminal gangs these were."
Milos describes his unit as absolute professionals and heaps scorn on other militia units like Lightning. "We were professionals. We weren't interested in killing women and children. Our job was to kill the KLA and that's what we did...I think a man who is prepared to rape and mutilate civilians, someone who would attack a village just to massacre civilians, whatever nation that man is from, that person brings no honor to his nation. I would liquidate them immediately. No courts, just executions."
In addition to bonuses for special operations, Milos says Frenkie units were paid around $8,000 per month during the war in Kosovo. "We were well-paid. But we were the best and we took huge risks." He says he never saw Simatovic in person. "None of us did. That is the way he is."
Milos says he was not at Cuska but several other fighters say it was Frenkie commanders who pressed for the attack. "They couldn't stand having any Albanian villages left," says one police officer. "They wanted to get rid of every last village in the Pec area."