High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from separatist Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar and Maslenica Bay, allowing a secure land route between Dalmatia and northern Croatia to be opened. While an undoubted net Croatian tactical success (the frontlines shifted in Croatian favour, and Serb military losses far exceeded those of the Croatians), the operation was only a moderate strategic success, and became a source of controversy for a number of reasons.