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Croats claim fresh victory

ZAGREB: Croatia claimed a fresh victory on the third day of a lightning offensive to retake the rebel Serb Krajina region and said its troops marched into the key northern town of Petrinja on Sunday.

"Operation 'Storm' is entering its end phase," defence ministry spokesman Ivan Tolj said in a statement.

"Croatian forces are at this moment entering Petrinja and they are advancing and have also surrounded the remaining parts of the occupied areas of the Republic of Croatia."

The Croats said Sunday also saw the capture of Obrovac, near the Adriatic coast, and Novi Licki Osik, a crossroads town deep inside south Krajina which the Serbs renamed Teslingrad after Nikola Tesla, a famous Croatian Serb scientist.

The Croatian news agency HINA said Petrinja, with a mixed Serb-Croat pre-war population, fell early in the morning. It is the biggest prize in the campaign to reunite Croatia after the fall of the separatist "capital" Knin on Saturday.

Croatian President Franjo Tudjman ordered the massive attack to retake Krajina, held by the Serbs since 1991, and the speed with which it has gone has astonished even him.

Within 36 hours, the Croats had taken Knin, the Serbs' stronghold for five years and symbol of their defiance.

U.N. officials could not immediately confirm the fall of Petrinja, 50 km (30 miles) south of Zagreb at the north end of Krajina. Peacekeepers have been swept aside by the offensive that began on Friday and are largely confined to their bases.-Reuter