According to former JNA officers, high-ranking officers of the JNA were trained in the offensive use of chemical weapons.50 Special JNA chemical and biological warfare units were trained to use and defend against chemical weapons attacks. Human Rights Watch has obtained a copy of a 1981 JNA manual for the use of “special” BZ- or CS-filled hand grenades and CS sprayers,51 and a copy of a 1988 JNA manual describing the use of CS-filled “school” rifle-propelled grenades.52 These manuals describe how these agents should be used and under what circumstances their use should be considered. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, JNA special operations teams were also trained to use toxic agents for sabotage.53
50 This is based on conversations with numerous ex-JNA officers, both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Hercegovina. Most claimed that they did not know whether the JNA had possessed chemical weapons, but said that they had been told by their superiors before the breakup of Yugoslavia that they would receive chemical weapons from “friends” in case they were needed. It was unclear to them who these “friends” were, but they said they assumed that they might be either the Warsaw Pact or NATO, depending on which alliance invaded Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia had long positioned itself as nonaligned between NATO and Warsaw Pact states, and its defense planning prepared for an invasion by either alliance. 51 Yugoslav National Army, Specijalne Rucne Bombe. 52 Yugoslav National Army, Tromblonske Hemijske Školske Mine M83 (School Rifle-Propelled Grenade M-83), (Belgrade, 1988). Apparently many chemical munitions in the JNA were called “school” munitions to give the appearance that they were not intended for wartime use. Numerous western chemical weapons experts interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they had never heard of the use of CS-filled rifle-propelled grenades for training purposes or, for that matter, of explosive CS-filled hand grenades. 53 U.S. Department of Defense, Bosnia Country Handbook, p. 6-18.