Operation Jackal

Operation Jackal
Part of the Bosnian War and the Croatian War of Independence
Dubrovnik Metković Mostar Stolac Čapljina Location of Mostar, Stolac and Čapljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in relation to Dubrovnik
Date 7 – 26 June 1992 Location Bosnia and Herzegovina Result Croatian victory
Belligerents
Croatia  Herzeg-Bosnia	Republika Srpska
Commanders and leaders
Janko Bobetko	Radovan Grubač
Units involved
Croatian Army Croatian Defence Council	Army of Republika Srpska
Strength
4,670 soldiers	Unknown

Operation Jackal (Serbo-Croatian: Operacija Čagalj, Операција Чагаљ), also known as Operation June Dawns (Operacija Lipanjske zore, Операција Липањске зоре), was an offensive of the Bosnian War fought between a combined Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) army against the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) from 7–26 June 1992. The offensive was a Croatian pre-emptive strike against the VRS, a Bosnian Serb military formed in May 1992 from Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) units that were stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The HV concluded that the JNA offensive operations of April and May 1992, resulting in the capture of Kupres and much of the Neretva River valley south of Mostar, were aimed at capturing or threatening the Croatian Port of Ploče and possibly Split. To counter this threat, the Croatian leadership deployed the HV, under the command of General Janko Bobetko, to the "Southern Front" including the area in which Operation Jackal was to be conducted.

The offensive marked the first significant Bosnian Serb defeat in the war and placed the HV in a favourable position to push back the VRS and remnants of the JNA holding positions north and east of Dubrovnik. The HV later re-established overland links with the city which had been under siege by the JNA since late 1991. The attack resulted in an HV/HVO victory and the capture of approximately 1,800 square kilometres (690 square miles) of territory in and around Mostar and Stolac.