In the early morning hours of September 6, 1993, at approximately 6:30 AM, a reconnaissance-terrorist group from the Croatian Army (HV) raided the village of Mirlović Polje near Drniš. At the time, the area was under the protection of the United Nations and the control of the authorities of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). In this brutal attack, seven Serbian civilians were massacred.
Before the war, the village had a mixed Croat-Serb population. Due to the proximity of the front line, most residents had previously fled, leaving mostly elderly Serbs behind. The locals chose to stay to protect their homes and livestock. They did so encouraged by the presence of UNPROFOR, which had assumed the role of protective forces in Sector South a year and a half prior. However, the UN peacekeepers failed to protect them.
That morning, Marija Trzin, daughter of Ilija (born 1928), and her neighbor Ljubica Trzin, daughter of Stevan (born 1938), were driving their sheep to pasture. When artillery shelling started hitting the village, they took shelter in the basement of a nearby house. Hearing a knock on the door, they went to open it. At that exact moment, a Croatian soldier threw a hand grenade into the basement. The explosion killed Ljubica instantly and severely wounded Marija. It was not until evening that a group of Krajina Serb soldiers found the exhausted Marija and transported her to the Knin hospital, thereby saving her life.
The following day, September 7, a Civil Defense team from the RSK, accompanied by members of the UN Civil Police (UNCIVPOL), arrived in the village to clear the terrain. Next to the body of the murdered Ljubica (daughter of Stevan) Trzin, the remains of six other civilians were found. Carbonized corpses of Milan Bibić (1926) and his wife Vasilija (1926) were discovered among the ashes of their family homes. The body of another resident named Ljubica Trzin, daughter of Petar (1937), was still smoldering on the ruins of her house. Not far away, near the village pond, the bodies of Božo Bibić (1907), his wife Božica (1912), and Marta Šarac (1907) were recovered. The murdered Marta Šarac was the biological sister of the severely wounded Marija Trzin. Marija had already lost her husband, Ilija (1924), on their doorstep in February of the same year, when he was killed by a shell fired from Croatian positions.
All victims were buried on the same day at the local cemetery without an autopsy. About ten days later, by order of the investigating judge of the District Court in Knin, the bodies were exhumed. A forensic examination was conducted by a specialist in forensic medicine, Dr. Željko Karan from Banja Luka, in the presence of UN military observers and a medical officer from the British battalion serving under the UN peace forces. This expert report and the official findings regarding the causes of death were also shared with UNPROFOR representatives.
Even though this war crime against the civilian population took place right before the eyes of international peacekeeping forces, to this day, no one has been prosecuted before either international or domestic judicial authorities.
According to detailed documentation held by the DIC “Veritas”, the attack on Mirlović Polje was carried out by the notorious 9th Battalion “Rafael vitez Boban”. This unit of the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS), named after a Ustaše colonel and general from World War II, was operating at the time as part of the 114th Brigade of the Croatian Army (HV). The unit was commanded by Marko Skejo from the village of Ružić near Drniš. This is the same individual who for years, with absolute impunity, has led a march of his blackshirts wearing Ustaše insignia during official state celebrations of Operation “Storm” in Knin, publicly shouting the fascist salute “Za dom spremni” (For the homeland, ready).
In November 2011, upon an official request, DIC “Veritas” submitted comprehensive and unequivocal documentation regarding this case to the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Serbia. Following pre-trial proceedings, the Serbian prosecution transferred the case to the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia (DORH). It is profoundly unrealistic and absurd that before the Croatian judiciary, despite all the submitted evidence, testimonies, medical reports, and a clearly identified military formation along with its command staff, this case has been formally open for decades against “unknown perpetrators.” This practice clearly points to deliberate obstruction and Croatia's unwillingness to prosecute war crimes when the victims are Serbs.
According to the 1991 population census, 188 citizens of Serbian nationality lived in Mirlović Polje. As of September 2026, not a single Serb lives in this village. The 1993 crime thus achieved its ultimate goal – the complete ethnic cleansing of this part of Dalmatia.
Belgrade / Banja Luka, September 5, 2026
DIC “Veritas” Information Service
