Zrinski Battalion

The Zrinski Battalion (Croatian: Bojna Zrinski) was a special forces unit of the Croatian National Guard (Zbor narodne garde – ZNG) and later of the Croatian Army (Hrvatska vojska – HV) established in Kumrovec on 18 May 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The unit drew personnel from the special police forces and a former French Foreign Legion troops serving as its core. The battalion was set up and initially commanded by Ante Roso, while Major Miljenko Filipović took over as the commanding officer in August.

The Zrinski Battalion trained volunteer troops in Vukovar in June 1991 before it saw action in Hrvatska Kostajnica, the Battle of Gospić and near Slano in 1991. By the end of 1991, the unit's personnel were tasked with setting up an additional special forces unit of the HV. The next year its elements took part in the Battle of Kupres and Operation Tiger aimed at lifting the Siege of Dubrovnik. It also and helped develop and train the Croatian Defence Council (Hrvatsko vijeće obrane – HVO), setting up a training camp in Tomislavgrad. In 1993, the battalion took part in Operation Maslenica. In February 1994, the Zrinski Battalion was amalgamated with several other HV special forces units into the 1st Croatian Guards Brigade (1. hrvatski gardijski zdrug), a component of the 1st Croatian Guards Corps (1. hrvatski gardijski zbor).