The Bugojno group was the name of a Croatian paramilitary formation which was infiltrated into SFR Yugoslavia on June 20, 1972 to raise a rebellion against the socialist Yugoslav government.
After the suppression of the Croatian Spring movement in 1971, the HRB believed that there existed in Croatia a political climate which would support the beginning of an armed rebellion. After short preparations, the HRB organized their personnel, weapons and funding to support an initial group to start a rebellion. Most of the fighters and money came from Australia while the armed training was done in West Germany. After a short preparation in Austria, the 19-member group traveled through Dravograd into Yugoslavia by truck, on June 20, 1972. The Yugoslav territorial defense units soon began a massive search to find them. The insurgents were armed with M-16 and HK G-3 rifles. The group was named after the Bosnian town of Bugojno, as their goal was to reach the mountain of Raduša south of the town. The operation was called "Phoenix" by the Croatian militants, while the counterinsurgency operation carried out by the Yugoslav forces bore the codename "Raduša 72".
Main actions
The Yugoslav Army had no special forces at its disposal, and relied exclusively on some 30,000 poorly trained conscript soldiers and reservists units for the search. The first clash with the security forces took place on June 25 at the edge of a wood near Uskoplje. The group successfully drove back a team of 30 Yugoslav troops and policemen, killing the officer in charge, captain Miloš Popović, and a soldier. Two other soldiers were wounded. The group, however, fled in disarray as their own commander, Adolf Andrić, was also killed in the action. Three other members were caught over the next 24 hours. Although forced to hide, the insurgents managed to regroup near Ramsko Lake. Cornered once more by 1,000 territorial defense soldiers, the rebels were dispersed and compelled to seek shelter among the civilian population. During the withdrawal, one unit of the territorial defense was ambushed by the militants in a forest clearing near their hideout, a cave in the surroundings of Rumboci, a village on the northern shores of Ramsko Lake, in the region of Bukovac. Nine Yugoslav soldiers were killed, one of them after being captured. The paramilitaries headed for Sinj and Imotski, in Croatia, where they became decimated in a series of ambushes and counter-ambushes with Yugoslav forces. With the help of an informer the Bugojno group was eventually apprehended by July 24.
Aftermath
The Yugoslav losses were 13 killed in action and 14 wounded. Of the 19 members of the group, 15 were killed, 10 in action, whilst 5 were summarily executed after having surrendered. The last four members of the group were captured, tried and sentenced on December 21, 1972. Ludvig Pavlović, who was a minor at the time, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and the remaining three were executed by firing squad on March 17, 1973, at the Police headquarters in Sarajevo. Pavlović was released from prison in 1990 and was killed in controversial circumstances during the Croatian War of Independence on September 18, 1991.
