| Country: | Yugoslavia |
| Details of Formation: | The group was formed on 11 October 1990 by Zeljko Raznatovic, also known as Arkan. One news source suggests that the direction of Serbia’s communist leadership was involved in forming the group. Another news source says that Milosevic’s secret police chief Mihaly Kertes formed the group together with Arkan. The first reported operations of the PGM are in 1991 in Croatia. |
| Details of Termination: | The group gradually developed into Arkan’s private army. Arkan himself was killed in 2000. There are allegations that Milosevic was behind his murder, killing Arkan because he knew too much (National Public Radio 2000). |
| Purpose: | The main purpose of Arkan’s tiger was to do the dirty work of “ethnic cleansing” of other ethnicities from what Serbs considered to be their territory. The regular army was unable or unwilling to do so. |
| Organisation: | The Serbian Volunteer Army was led by Zeljo Raznjatovic, also known as Arkan, who owned businesses in Belgrade, was the leader of Delije, a group of Red Star Belgrade soccer fans, and was involved in politics in Kosovo. Arkan claimed that his paramilitary was under JNA command and was part of the Serbian Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem Region Territorial units. President Milosevic sponsored, funded and supplied arms to the paramilitary, and one report says that his control was tight enough over Arkan’s Tigers that they would not operate without his orders. Another news source says that the group reported to the intelligence arm of the Serbian Interior Ministry, and while they had Belgrade’s blessing, what they were allowed to do depended on their local commander. |
| Weapons and Training: | The PGM was armed by the Milosevic government, and were described as properly trained, though we have no further evidence on who provided the training. |
| Size: | In September 1991 a news source mentioned a membership of 600 men; in December 1991 another news source mentions 1,000 men, confirmed by another report of 1999. By 2000, the group had a core membership of 2000 but was able to mobilize several hundred so-called ‘reservists’ for full-scale battle. |
| Reason for Membership: | There is no evidence that members were paid, but the Serb government allowed looting in foreign territory and further allowed the paramilitaries to keep 10% of the goods they stole in return for their service. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | The Serb Volunteer Army committed atrocities against civilians, including beating and killing civilians and participating in “ethnic cleansing”. It is not clear to what degree they also committed these crimes on Yugoslav territory, because the reports speak of atrocities in Croatia and Bosnia. The Serb Volunteer Army claimed that their actions were aimed at protecting Serbian civilians. |
| Other Information: | Arkan was a well-known leader of “Delije”, a notorious group of “Red Star Belgrade” soccer fans. Although Arkan’s Tigers were mainly active in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, the militia was based in Belgrade. |
| References: |
National Public Radio. 2000. “Arkan Dead.” https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1069219&t=1558534179648 Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD |