Operation Alfa (Italian: Operazione Alfa; Serbo-Croatian: Operacija Alfa, Операција Алфа) was an Italian-Chetnik offensive carried out against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Prozor region of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) in early October 1942.
The operation was arranged between Mario Roatta, commander of the Italian Second Army, and Chetnik commander Ilija Trifunović-Birčanin with approval from Draža Mihailović. It was carried out in coordination with the Germans and involved a number of the Croatian Home Guard and the Croatian Air Force. Faced with heavy weaponry and vastly outnumbered, the Partisans retreated and left Prozor. Chetniks under the command of Dobroslav Jevđević and Petar Baćović, proceeded to massacre between 543 and 2,500 Catholics and Muslims and destroy numerous villages in the area. With protests from both the Italians and the Croatian NDH authorities, the Chetniks were discharged or relocated. Operation Beta, focused on capturing Livno and surrounding localities, was pursued by the Italians and NDH forces afterwards. Jevđević and Baćović avoided prosecution by the new Yugoslav government while Mihailović was found guilty, amongst other things, for the actions at Prozor and was sentenced to death and executed.
Read more about Operation Alfa: Background, Operation and Massacre, Aftermath
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